This year the date has been redeemed because it is International Beer Day (IBD) and we in New Zealand get it first. Take that you moose-kissing Canucks, whippet-worrying Yorkies and Shatner-stealing Yanks! A comparatively new but rapidly growing event, International Beer Day is observed on the first Friday of August and is an annual celebration of beer drinkers, beer makers and beer servers. [3] It is also an excellent warm up for Beervana which is now just a week away.

As hinted at in the last two blogs, Malthouse has big plans for both International Beer Day (today) and the Road to Beervana (next week). Appropriately enough, International Beer Day will be marked by a selection of International beers on tap.

The list include BrewDog Jackhammer 7.2% (a “ruthless IPA” with a theoretical bitterness rating of over 200 IBUs), BrewDog Alice Porter 5.2% (a sensible, smooth and rich porter brewed by Scottish lunatics), Coopers Pale Ale 4.5% (a sessionable but tasty classic from the oldest family brewery in Australia), Coopers Best Extra Stout 6.3% (famously but erroneously credited with being the beer recommended by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service for post-donation restoration), Stone and Wood Pacific Ale 4.4% (unfiltered, unpasteurised and award winning pale ale), Wild Beer Evolver IPA 5.8% (a India Pale Ale with lashings of sweaty horse blanket), Beavertown Black Betty (a hoppy Black IPA with a near perfect rating on RateBeer), and Beavertown Holy Cow Bell (so many hops in this “India Stout”). [4]

There is also one semi-international beer but it is a beauty. Gigantic Brewery from Portland and Wild Rose Brewing from Calgary teamed up Fork Brewing on Bond Street (which last time I checked was not a sovereign nation) to produce Tainted Love 5.8%. Now this is the last remaining keg of the first batch, which was tweaked and has a Funkonnay twist added- the result? Tough Love! It’s a cloudy, tart and sour ale with heaps of citrus which produces a surprisingly quenching pint. It has also just been confirmed by sources close to Malthouse that the world famous Duchesse de Bourgogne 6.2% will be on tap at some stage. This beer is known as the “Burgundy of Belgium” and showcases a unique blend of oak barrel aged funky ales.

Next week, the Road to Beervana begins – a whole week of events leading up to New Zealand’s premier beer festival Beervana at Westpac Stadium on Friday 14 August and Saturday 15 August. On Wednesday 12 August Malthouse is having the Garage Project brew team into the bar for a chat and to drink a few of their distinctive cans. The GP crew are the mad scientists of Kiwi brewery with their creative use of exotic ingredients and style-bending philosophy. They are also tremendously good fun to drink beer with.

For this event, the first 20 people to buy a $40 ticket from the bar will get a selection of four Garage Project can and the ability to join the Garage Project bods in the lounge. Everybody else will be able to purchase GP cans but will only be able to gaze into the lounge with barely concealed envy. It will be impossible to crash the lounge party because Malthouse will put up “the velvet rope.” It is a scientific fact that no Kiwi ever crosses “the velvet rope.”

The next day, Thursday 13 August, turns it up another notch. Bam – it is a full tap takeover by Luke Nicholas the Impish Brewer from Epic and his very, very, very distant relative Simon Nicholas of Hop Federation Brewery. They made a collaboration beer to celebrate a common albeit hugely distant relative. It is an English style IPA called House of Nicholas Sarah IPA 5% and, having tasted the most recent batch, it is quite stunning.

There are no Malthouse events for Friday 14 August because a) Beervana and b) it is Friday night at Malthouse. There will be the customary free feed early in the evening which is generally a selection of deep fried deliciousness. Mmmmmmmmm… Deep fried goodness… My one weakness, my Achilles Heel if you will. [5]

Once Beervana finishes on Saturday 15 August then the Malthouse team swings back into high gear and will be changing the taps on the hour every hour. At midnight, they will put on a beer called Funky Malty Midnight which is a collaborative Red IPA by Funk Estate and Maltstaff brewing companies. It almost seems like the beer was brewed for this very occasion. I’ll be safely in my Overground Thorndon Mansion by that time (I hope) but expect to hear all the reports.

Sunday 16 August is also known as “I survived Beervana Day” or, to the hardened few, “I’m still heading home from Beervana Day.” There will be a veritable cornucopia of craft beers on tap though the exact mix will depend on what is left after the Road to Beervana week. Colin the Handsome Yet Softly Spoken Scottish Proprietor is sure to have kept back at least a couple of kegs of something a little special. Malthouse will be hosting “Beer Yum Cha” with the ever popular House of Dumplings and Garage Project. Mmmmmmmmm… Dumpling-y goodness… My one weakness, my Achilles Heel if you will. [6]

As for Beervana, I’ll be there pretty much the whole time. I’m running beer and food matching sessions with celebrity chef and sexy beast Martin Bosley for VIP Ultimate Experience ticket holders before the start of every session. We are going to be serving mouth-watering matches such as venison sliders with tomato jam paired with Behemoth Brewing Tasty Beverage Pale Ale, and Dark Chocolate Terrine, Caramel Popcorn and Blue Cheese matched with Epic Coffee and Fig Stout. I note there are still some tickets available…

I’ll also have my fingers crossed for my Media Brew entry. A few weeks ago I headed up to scenic Petone in the rain to lay down a brew with the fine fellows at Baylands Brewing. Their brewery is very big and very clean. It should come as no surprise that we made an Imperial Russian Stout with Raspberries. Hopefully we will win but the absolute bottom line is to beat Jono Galuzska (again).

Next time, we drink to David Cryer’s hair. All humanity should toast the finest mane in world brewing.

[1] And it has been really busy ever since…
[2] And I think we all agree that was a terrible mistake…
[3] I also tend do this on any day whose name includes the letter “y”.
[4] Say it with me gentle readers: “Needs more cowbell.”
[5] The writing of this blog was delayed as I attempted to clean the drool off my keyboard. I also had to fight the urge to go and get won tons, lots of won tons.
[6] Predictably, I now want piles of dumplings and/or pot stickers. No wonder this blog is so late.

Cheers
Neil Miller
Beer and Brewer Magazine
Cuisine Magazine
TheShout Magazine
New Zealand Liquor News Magazine

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