Working as a tour guide with Anchor Brewing in San Francisco this past year I had the opportunity to learn about this small hop growing region in New Zealand. The hop farms in Nelson are nothing in size compared to those in the states, but the climate is great for growing hops. So great, that America's first craft brewery — Anchor Brewing—has used Nelson New Zealand hops in some of their iconic San Francisco beers. (That’s the tour guide coming out). So you can imagine the excitement I felt being completely across the planet drinking beer that had the same hops we imported to California. Very cool.
We started our rainy rest day day at Sprig & Fern. Did some research and this was— according to google— the best brewery that was closest to our hostel. So we started here.
Usually you save the best for last but I’m not one to follow directions. So Sprig & Fern, you we’re by far my favorite. They have a few locations in nelson (3 to be exact) and I found out later the Head brewer is a woman! Tracy Banner owns the brewery with her husband Ken. That’s right boys, who’s her right hand man? Who’s the boss? I’m just pumped, not only because it was great beer, but it was also great design. The small location we went to had a decent sized patio and quaint interior with a fireplace, pillows. It was like simply walking into someone’s home, only if that home also included a full bar.
And minutes after taking this photo below, a man made a small batch of curry and asked us if we wanted some. We asked the bartenders if this happens often and one replied: “He just comes in here every once in a while and tries out some recipes for the kitchen.” It was a small town, and it occurred to me then just how small. But even here in America, an old man serving you curry in a brewery just doesn’t happen. Too many regulations, risk of peanut allergy etc. ‘Twas a great first stop on our small brewery bike tour.
Before the curry.
Next we went to Craft Beer Depot. And we were surprised the amount of sheer California influence hanging from the walls: Lagunitas, Modern Times, Pliny the Elder. All the breweries we Know in California, six thousand miles away in the Southern Hemisphere.
A total dude dungeon if I ever saw one. We talked to the owner and apparently he lived near Tahoe for a while and spent half of his life in California and half in Australia. Somehow he made his way down here and his past was a huge influence to the kind of beer he was brewing, so that was their marketing angle in A way. It was like we were walking into a themed restaurant but the theme was home.
They also make Kombucha which Sabrina was happy about. Sabrina works for a hard Kombucha company in San Diego called JuneShine. They‘ve exploded in popularity this past year and everyone wants to hop on the hard kombucha chain before the big guys do.
Kombucha Bros. is their name.
When we asked if they had “hard kombucha” he replied with: “I can make anything hard” and walked over to his shelf of liquor. It was new to us seeing a brewery carry liquor. In New Zealand breweries can serving beer, wine, and liquor because their license includes all kinds of alcohol even if they only brew beer there. Weird right. I don’t know the legal lingo but regardless we agreed to some “hard kombucha” and got a shot of gin in our precious probiotics.
However a true “hard kombucha” doesn't need a shot to make it hard Sabrina and I couldn’t say no to some buzzy booch.
Sabrina working at JuneShine also connected us with some kind individuals in the north island with Daily Organics. Some advice: talk to people about their interests, and your interests. It's as simple as a conversation that can lead to a friend for life, a contact, a reference, a place to stay. And all these can be symbiotic.
200ml = 6.7 oz just as a reference. I had no idea.
Daily organics headquarters are located in Matakana about an hour or two north east of Auckland on the North Island. Two posts ago I talked about getting lunch in Matakana well that was with the two kind owners of Daily Organics. To check them out here’s their website: www.dailyorganics.com
They are one of the only kombucha companies in New Zealand that use real scoby without concentrate. They emphasize on being truly organic because there aren’t very many Kombucha companies in New Zealand that brew true kombucha like they do.
To rewind a bit we went to one other brewery in Nelson called The Workshop. I give it a fifty’s diner feel worthy a modern pizza twist. This restaurant and brewery was a very cool place to me because they had two “true ales” on tap. The ones that have to be pumped at room temperature into a glass. I haven’t seen one of these in person and the woman working the bar swore by it. I admire their effort to take what was traditional and place it in a modern brewery however pallets are changing and I think we might not be ready to take that leap back in time to warm english style cask ales.
To conclude our time talking to brewers of all sorts was very cool. And by the end of the day we we’re pooped. Thanks again for givin' this a read. And thanks Sabrina for a wild ride around town.
To check out some places we visited here are some links:
https://www.sprigandfern.co.nz/
https://www.craftbeerdepot.nz/
https://www.dailyorganics.com/
http://www.theworkshopbrewery.co.nz/
Till next time.
Toodles ma noodle
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