New Zealand: Waiheke Island Brewery

So, you know how beautiful Napa/Sonoma is: the wineries, the landscape, the incredible food, the cheese, the olive oil and everything in-between; it seems like it couldn't get any better. Well, it can. Put it on an island surrounded by aquamarine colored water. It's called: Waiheke Island. You even take a ferry there from Auckland or Devonport (the only downer is you have to rent a car for the day, which is the equivalent of $50 US but totally worth it).

While there and enjoying some amazing wine and food from Cable Bay, we found out there was a micro brewery on the island that also does beer tastings. So of course, we had to check it out. It is called Waiheke Island Brewery. It had a great set up: a huge outdoor patio to enjoy your beers on (they also had wine tastings, olive oil tastings and sauces like chutney to taste there as well). Their bottles were so great and they even had a package where you could buy a bottle of beer with a glass in a nice wooden wine box (perfect gift to bring home to Dave!).

There were 4 beers to try in their tastings:
1-Baroona Pale Ale- 4.7% abv
2- Wharf Rd Wheat Beer- 4.5% abv
3-Onetangi Dark Ale- 4.3% abv
4-Matiatia Malt Beer- 7.2%

Baroona Original Pale Ale- the description said: Based on the German-Kolsch style with the use of the famous New Zealand Saaz (Motueka) hops. Baroona is brewed with 90% pilsner malt and 10% malted wheat and is top fermented. It recommends to pair it with spicy food. It poured  a clear hay yellow with a touch of brown to it. It had flavors of grapefruit, citrus, hay and grass on the nose. It tasted very light, pilsnery with a very very faint touch of hops. Overall it did not have much flavor and I would disagree about it pairing with spicy food. Spicy food needs something substantial in flavor to stand up to it and you would think it might, according to its description of hops, but there wasn't much to this beer. So I would recommend pairing with it with simply grilled fish, smoked salmon, or anything pickled.

Wharf Rd Wheat Beer- the description said: Bavarian Hefeweizen style, brewed with 50/50 blend of pilsner wheat, very light hopped with Pacific Halleryau and fermented with Bavarian yeast. It recommends to pair it with salads, seafood and pasta. It poured a cloudy wheat yellow with no head. It smelled of banana, clove, bubblegum and a touch of sweet honey. It tasted extremely light- a light banana bubblegum aftertaste and slightly dry on the tongue. It was just ok for me if that. And again, with this beer being so slight I disagree with the pairing suggestions (really a hefeweizen with pasta?): I would suggest this beer pairs well with sausages, potato salads, pretzels, bratwurst, mostly german food.

Onetangi Dark Ale- the description said: Porter style and using a blend of 8 different grades of malted barley. Hopping is stronger than most dark beers with New Zealand grown Styrian Goldings used for bitterness and aroma. Rich and creamy, yet light soft chocolate notes of malt are perfectly balanced for their hops, with their rich, fruit cake flavor.  It recommends to pair it with roast meats, game or oysters.
It poured a clear orangish teak. It smelled of slight caramel and sweetly toasted malts. It tasted more roasted than expected with some light milk chocolate notes and ends with a little bitter dryness on the tongue. It had a good flavor for being so light at 4.3% abv. It was slightly too light for the style. It was the best out of all 4 in my opinion and reminiscent of a doppelbock .

Matiatia Malt Beer-the description said: based on the American IPA, this beer is perfect for an after-dinner beer or nightcap. The palate is rich and full with notes of toffee and chocolate, balanced with  generous additions of New Zealand grown Cascade hops for a lingering resinous finish. It recommends to pair it with desserts, cheese or chocolate. It poured a slightly cloudy red mahogany with no head. On the nose, I got flavors of chocolate, vanilla, toffee, roasted malt and light espresso. It tasted  of roasted malt but light for 7.2% abv. Very British feeling. Dry on the tongue. I would never have known it had Cascade hops in it. The only indication is the dry tongue aftertaste. How is this based on an American IPA? I would disagree with this one about it being an after-dinner beer. This would be good paired with oysters, stews or gravies, perhaps some light chocolate desserts but it feels more meaty than desserty. There are much better beers to pair with dessert or chocolate.

Overall, this brewery was a bit disappointing. The bottle packaging is fantastic and I really like that they are using New Zealand based ingredients. However, their beers were too middle of the road, if that. They were not different enough for me to justify the micro brew price so why would I spend more money on these beers when I can get ones I really enjoy for the same price? They all just felt like watered down versions of good beers. I think they have potential but they need to get there and make themselves stand out taste wise or they will be weeded out by the rest.

New Zealand: A little beer garden in Okere Falls

Traveling to Lake Rotoriti, I was surprised to not only find a atomic vintage looking high end deli, but a cool one with a beer garden in the back! It's called the Okere Falls Store We got there on the late side, but they said that their hours were from 7am-7pm, but if there were people hanging out in the back that they sometimes don't close the beer garden until 9pm. Good to know! So we had to come back the next day (we were only there 2 nights).

So the next day, after boating on Lake Rotoriti to the Hot Springs in the middle of the lake in the rain, we washed up and got ourselves over to the Okere Falls Store for a snack and some beer. They had really cute T Shirts there as well as local jellies, sauces, espresso, wine, local vegetables and delicacies. We grabbed a few snacks to munch on in the back as well as a beer.

The beer I tried was:
by Altien-brauerei Kaufbeuren- Hellespont Starkbier Belli Bock- 6.9% abv and a Maibock/ Belli Bock. It poured  a hazy sunshine yellow. It smelled of light apricot, lemon, malt and some light cereal. It tasted belgiany, yeasty with light sweet malts and a touch of dried apricot. It was very pleasant to drink- especially in their outside beer garden. That's something we are lacking here in San Francisco is a decent place to sit outside and drink your beer.

We also tried by
Altien-brauerei Kaufbeuren- Jubilaums German Pils- 5% abv. This poured a yellow hay color with a thick white foamy head that dissipated quite quickly. It smelled of a touch of hops with some earthiness and grass notes to it. It tasted of light hops, a touch of herbs, and some light malt.

Apparently this place has a bunch of beer festivals as well.  You should try to make it there!

New Zealand: Monteith's Brewing

So after a 13 hour plane ride that landed at 5:30 in the freaking morning and a semi-nap, I was looking forward to trying my first New Zealand beer at lunch. It was Monteith's Brewing Radler Bier and boy, did I wish I had a glass of wine instead! I looked up the brewery and once again found that it was bought by a large corporation, DB Breweries. I disliked the Radler Bier so much that I wouldn't buy anymore Monteith's when I saw it. However, my friend and I were walking around a neighborhood and there wasn't much to do there, so we saw a Monteith's Ale House called The Copper Room and out of pure boredom, we tried 2 more beers.


Monteith's Radler Bier- 5% abv, says : An easy drinking beer with light hoppy notes and a hint of natural lemon juice. Poured a light clear yellow. It smelled like Sprite soda, artificial lemon and light faint hops. It tasted like Sprite soda with the tiniest touch of hops. It was nasty. The last thing I ever want a beer to taste like is soda. It reminded me of a Zima or something to that effect. I bet it is popular with college students who don't know the taste of real beer.  (I just looked it up and it has a D+ rating on beer advocate. Not sure what the + is for).


Montieth's Summer Ale- Lager 5% abv. I didn't even want to try this beer after the Radler Bier, but the bar tender in the brew pub insisted I try it, as it's apparently their best seller. The only difference between this and the Radler beer is that instead of Spite lemon/lime soda, this tasted like carbonated apple juice soda. Not sure which one was worse, but they were both the worst beers I tried on my trip.

Monteith's Black Beer-Schwarzbier style- 5.2% abv. This poured a dark black brown, slightly clearish. It smelled of light roasted malt, some espresso and a touch of vanilla extract. It tasted light, with a good chariness to it, toasted malts and roasted espresso. It had decent drinkability because it was such a light drinking beer. Hands down, the only decent one that is passable for Montieth's if you have to go there- which I advise that you don't.


Overall, there are MUCH better beers out there in New Zealand. Don't try their Radler or Summer Ale even if you were stuck on a dessert island and drink their Black Beer if there's nothing else decent to try.


Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest DrinkThe Beer BookMr. Beer Premium Edition Home Microbrewery System

New Zealand: Moa Brewing Co: Exceptionally Rare Beer

I also came upon Moa's beers in a wine speciality chain store called GlenGarry. I was looking for some interesting New Zealand beers to try as that was my only rule during my stay on the North Island: only drink the local beer. So when I saw Moa's beers on the shelf, with a cork and higher abv's than the rest, I thought I would give it a try. My only note of distain is that they were all in green bottle no less (shame on you guys- change the freaking bottle to brown! Otherwise they will be skunked-).

Their website says:
       A vision of Moa beer came to Josh Scott, winemaker for Allan Scott Family Winemakers...

What if he used his winemaking expertise to craft an exceptional quality beer?

The process starts off quite normally. Josh brews the beer using mainly local hops, malt, wheat or barley. Then he veers off the well-worn path. Josh bottles the beer, adds a dose of yeast and sugar and then seals the cap.

Just like champagne, the bubbles produced by this second fermentation are dissolved in the liquid. The result is a beer unlike any other — clear, exquisite, and bottle-fermented

We tried in order:
1-Moa's St Josephs Tripel-Belgian Style Tripel and 9.5% abv-Limited edition
2-Moa's 5 Hop Winter Ale- 6.2% abv- English style Extra Special Bitter/Strong Ale and limited edition
3-Moa's Harvest- 5.5%- fruit beer made with Nelson hops and cherries
4-Moa's Imperial Stout Barrel Reserve- 9.5% abv aged in Pinot Noir barrels and limited edition


St Josephs Tripel- This poured a cloudy caramel yellow. On the nose, you get flavors of sour lemons, slight spice, light caramel and very belgiany. It tasted: of a slightly sweet caramel, light spicy clove, yeast, belgiany, some dark fruits and some light citrus. It was extremely good and probably my favorite beer so far in New Zealand.

5 Hop Winter Ale- This poured a teak brown with a good, thick white head. It smelled of light sweet malts, hops, and some light tropical fruits. It tasted belgiany with some bitterness, candied sugar, malt, light grapefruit and light spice.

Harvest- This beer poured a golden yellow with a touch of white foam. It smelled of wheat, light fresh cherries and slight vanilla. It tasted light with some light cherries, slight banana, clove spices and wheat. Very drinkable and refreshing.

Imperial Stout Barrel Reserve- Yeah! Aged in Pinot Noir barrels! Someone is doing something comparable to what's going on here on the West Coast. I actually brought this one on the plane back home with me for my husband to try. The only problem with beers being bottle conditioned is that sometimes they explode. This one didn't quite explode on the way over, but it did leak due to pressure (the other bottles of Moa did not). It poured a dark brown black with an oatmeal cream head. It smelled of wine, chocolate, light vanilla, and big roasted malt. It tasted of dark espresso, fresh vanilla bean, toasted malt with some light tannins in there as well. It was super carbonated and not too bitter- very drinkable and very good. I am glad I brought another bottle home to age!

Overall, they are doing some good stuff over there and if you get a chance to go to the South Island of New Zealand you should definitely make a trip to their brewery! (If I ever get to the south island, I definitely will!) Keep up the good work Moa!

New Zealand: Mac's does a good job disguising itself as a 'craft' brewery

Going into a New Zealand supermarket, one isn't quite hopeful to find any 'craft' beers. However, I found some beers on the shelf that had very clever packaging and extremely cute bottles. (Not that I am a sucker for packaging or anything). The bottles had rings on the top of the neck, which made for easy gripping and the bottle cap, you pull off and it pops off. Somebody needs to steal this design.


Anyways, Mac's beers are everywhere. I first noticed something was up when I saw one of their beers on the supermarket shelves: Mac's Light low alcohol beer and 1%! 1% people, now what's the point of drinking beer that's 1%? If you are on a diet, have 1 glass of really fantastic beer, not 10 of total crap 1% beers. I was so shocked, I had to take a photo.

Then there was their beer bar in Auckland. Totally done right- all vintage items pieces together and really comfortable and cool. It was a shame when I learned the true story about Mac's from the bartender there- Lion Brewery (the equivalent of a New Zealand Budweiser company and actually part of the Mitsubishi Group) had bought Mac's Brewery from a man named Terry McCashin who actually still owns the brewery but since August 2000, Lion has leased it and has in fact, already moved a big part of their production. I guess they saw how the 'craft' beer industry was booming so they decided to make some 'craft' beers and disguise them by being a cool, young, vintage-y feeling brewery only to trick us young folks that actually like good beer. It's a shame too because their whole package from the beer bars, brewery and beer packaging actually IS quite fantastic. I am actually surprised Budwesier or any of the big '3' have not developed this system yet.


Also, on a side note, Dave and I finally watched Beer Wars, which if you haven't seen it, you should AND you can stream it from your computer if you belong to Netflix. SO ridiculous how the big guys are just out to crush everything and every brewery in its sight. Yeah America. What the hell is wrong with our country? How do these people sleep at night? Oh yeah, under their billions and billions of dollars that keep themselves and their lobbists happy. BUT they also show at one point, an Organic Wild Hop Lager from Green Valley Brewing which is actually made and owned my Anheuser-Busch! It's completely disguised to look like a local craft beer with independant brewers. Disgusting!!!! Nowhere on the package does it say this. I demand more people! Hoegaarden as well! I'll be damned- I didn't even know that one! You can read a great article about this beer documentary here.


Anyways, back to Mac's Brewery and their beer.


1- Hop Rocker Pilsner- German style pilsner.-5% abv. Says: a superb golden pilsner heavily hopped with sauvin and cascade varieties giving it citrus aromas and a proper bitter finish. It poured a clear yellow with a slight Orangina hue. On the nose, you can actually smell a hint of hops and wheat. It tasted like a light wheat with a touch of citrus. I can see how people can easily drink this and think it's a 'craft' beer because of the touch of flavor, which is lacking in any mainstream corporate beer. However, I guess it's a gateway beer and hopefully it might open up people to the idea of flavor for their beer and they can keep trying others until they realize this stuff isn't that great. 

2- Great White- Belgian style whitbier  and 5% abv. The bottle says: a complex, cloudy Belgian witbier with banana, bubblegum and Turkish delight flavors leading to open discussion of rhubarb and custard, raspberry, aniseed, orange peel and coriander. Can you see why I picked it up? It poured a cloudy orangish hay color with a white head and good lacing. It smelled of definite pink bubblegum, typical banana and clove. It tasted very wheaty with coriander spice, strong orange peel and banana flavors. It was light and good to drink on the beach. However, I think the person who wrote the description on the bottle was smoking something else while it was written. Rhubarb? Raspberry? Custard? Did they mix 2 beers together? Absolute marketing scheme and I was a total sucker.


3- Sassy Red- English Bitter and 4.5% abv. The label says: a real favourite and Mac’s most awarded beer. A very hoppy bitter with loads of Saaz B and five different malts. All the flavour you can handle. (Don't you love how the English spell things like flavor?). It poured a copper red with a touch of a head and minimal lacing. It smelled of some light toffee notes, some berry,  and a touch of piney hops. It tasted crisp, with some berry fruitiness, with a good malty backbone that leaves a nice dry hop bitterness on your tongue. I actually liked it. Kudos for the name, plus I was with a sassy redhead, so it actually worked out quite well. (it actually got a B+ on BA)

4-Black Mac- English Brown Ale and 4.5% abv. Label says: newly reformulated, this chocolaty dark beer is rich in toasted malts and Hallertau hops. It poured a brownish black with an off white foamy heady. It smelled of light malts and some slight roasted flavors. It tasted of light coffee, slight caramel  and a faint bitterness on the finish. Good drinkability considering how light the actual flavor is.


Overall, don't be fooled by the large corporate breweries. Even though there is some slight flavors in the Sassy Red, and apparently they even make a beer called  Brewjolais -made with the season’s first green hops, and Mac’s Mojo, a unique espresso porter brewed with coffee beans from local roasters- Mojo. They are just trying to tap into the craft market for craft beers. I was even fooled. Let this be a lesson to all of you craft beer drinkers- be careful what you buy and never fool your taste buds. Oh yeah and go watch Beer Wars. It will change what you pick up top drink.




*** Also worth mentioning is that in the ladies bathroom,  a completely stereotypical statement in on the door talking to us 'women' like we are idiots and incapable of liking good beer.
On the door it states the following:
Some people think guys like girls who are frilly and girly. This isn't true. Guys like girls who know jujitsu. Want to impress a guy? Order a Black Mac. Cocktails won't do it. They're just the anaesthetics disguised as fruit juice. Besides, he may like the idea of buying you a drink but he won't want to shell out $15 for it. Tell him you want a Black Mac and he'll be awestruck and grateful and intimidated all at once. And sit there cracking your knuckles while you wait for him to come back with it.

New Zealand: Croucher Brewing

SO I have been away for the past 2 weeks, galavanting across the north island of New Zealand. I have been tasting a ton of beer along the way, along with an on air beer interview as well as a free helicopter ride. I finally am back in the States and sort of re-cooperated from the jet lag and ready to write about all the beers over there.

First up: Croucher Brewing Co in Rotorua, New Zealand


I got in touch with Nigel Gregory through a mutual friend from the states who said that they were doing some great beers over there- he wasn't wrong.

My friends and I found their brewing company in the back of an industrial area in Rotorua. We pulled up and Nigel Gregory and Paul Croucher dropped what they were doing to entertain us lady folk. They were both extremely nice and welcoming and went out of their way to have us sample some of the great beers they are creating over there besides the 3 types of beer that they bottle. We tried in order:

1-Czech Pilsner (they bottle this one)- a dry hopped pilsner and 5% abv. They use New Zealand Pacific Hallertau and Cascade hops to create this pilsner. It poured a light cloudy golden hay- orange with a bleach white head.  It had a fantastic hopped nose to it with tons of juicy fresh grapefruit, pine and some mango. It tasted light but with some bitterness, light biscuit, and grapefruit. It had a nice dry, bitter finish. Now I am not a fan of Pilsners, but I really enjoyed this one. I honestly think it was the best Pilsner I have ever had. It's not the run of the mill Pilsner style, which is why I like it- it actually has some interesting flavors.

2- The Hef (they also bottle this one and it's the beer I have Colin & Matt from 97.9 Kool FM try on the air). 5% abv. This poured a cloudy straw color and a light white head. It smelled of banana, clove, yeast and bubblegum. It tasted of banana bread with clove spices over some wheat/yeastiness with a hint of cereal/biscuit malt. Nothing out of the ordinary in this one, but a good standard hefeweizen to drink on a hot sunny day.

3-Pale Ale (the last one they bottle). American style pale ale brewed with Cascade hops and 5% abv.  This poured a cloudy orange rust shade. It smelled of: cascade hops, citrus, grapefruit and pine. It tasted a bit light with some citrus, grapefruit, grass and a light caramel malt finish. It was my least favorite of their beers- it was decent but it did not rock my world, but I am also hard to impress living in California and the land of fantastic craft beer.

4- Cherry Bock (not bottled)- 8% abv. This poured a cola brown with a touch of red highlights. It smelled of cherry cola, candied malt and a hint of vanilla. It tasted lightly sour (yum), caramel malts stewed cherries with a huge raspberry lingering finish. Very drinkable and a great example of some interesting brews they are cooking up over there.

5-Belgian Collaboration (not bottled)- collaboration with Epic Brewing - This poured a cloudy bright orange with a hint of sienna brown. It smelled of juicy peaches, light fresh grapes and sweet malt. It tasted of light grapes, vanilla and light caramel malts. It was not bitter, it was quite juicy but it lacked carbonation.

6- Vicar's Vice Forbidden Fruit (not bottled)- I got the chance to sample this beer at Galbraith's Alehouse in Auckland on draft.  It's a trappist style and 7% abv. It poured a yellow copper. It smelled belgiany with some stewed plums, dark fruits and some slight biscuit notes. It tasted belgiany with a light, sweet caramel, some toffee notes and a bit of stewed dark fruits. Again, another great innovative style that they are doing at Croucher.

After our trip to Rotorua, we went to Whangamata, New Zealand, where I was interviewed on the radio talking about beer. I had Colin & Matt, the radio interviewers try Croucher Brewing's The Hef on the air. Check out the broadcast here.

All in all, these guys are giving New Zealand what most of their beers lack- flavor. For an country that mainly drinks Lion Beer and English styles, they are doing some great innovative styles and giving New Zealand some actual flavors in their beer. I highly recommend you try their stuff.

Pliny the Younger on tap at Toronado Friday 2/19

So who would of thought at me getting my haircut on a Friday would lead to me drinking Pliny the Younger on tap without a crazy line? So I go to get my haircut right around the corner from Toronado, and feeling a bit beer'ed out, Dave and I go to just have a drink or two after work on Friday. He rushed over to make their happy hour, which ends at 6pm, and low and behold when we walk in, on the chalkboard it said: Younger at 6pm. $7 for a 13oz glass.
It was 4 minutes until 6. Booyah.


SO we were both able to taste this incredible beer once again. It was amazing that only a week later had this beer already changed in character. Hops really fade over time- who would have thought 1 week would make such a difference? But when you are drinking it really fresh, you definitely take notice. So this 1 week old version was a bit astringent and way way less sweet. It wasn't even sweet anymore. It was still super dry and bitter- and sticky. Incredibly sticky. You still get the amazing hop, citrus, grapefruit rind flavors and drinking it for a while, it definitely gets more similar. But that first initial smell and taste was much different. It was pretty cool to try it and notice the differences!