Beer-hunting in America
This week I’m checking in from San Francisco where I’m meeting up with a Kiwi friend to begin a twoweek beer-hunting road trip through Northern California and up into Oregon.
With way more than its fair share of craft breweries – the Portland area alone has 105 – the Pacific Northwest is arguably the best place on the planet for those looking to sample a broad range of tasty craft beers. And the scenery is pretty good too.
Having flown to the US many times in the last decade, I’ve become used to Air New Zealand’s friendly, relaxed and proudly Kiwi service, and I’m a big fan. My 12-hour flight over this time was no exception, but I must admit to being a little disappointed when it came to the beers offered with dinner. As I’ve commented more than once over the years, it seems the care with which our national carrier sources and presents its food and wines still doesn’t extend to its choice of beers.
While those looking to enjoy a glass of wine on our flight were (repeatedly) offered a selection of Kiwi red, white and sparkling wines, the only beers available were two standard, internationalstyle lagers, Stella Artois and Steinlager Pure.
Although, to be fair, I did enjoy a delightfully fresh glass of Mac’s Three Wolves in the Air New Zealand lounge while waiting for my flight, onboard foreign visitors are still given no clue as to this country’s buoyant craft brewing BEER scene. Air New Zealand please note, other airlines have been much quicker to offer craft beers onboard.
How different it was to my recent experience on an interisland ferry. While it must be said I usually try to avoid travelling by sea across Cook Strait – I’m not the biggest fan of spending three-and-a-half hours cooped up on a boat (let alone 12 hours on a plane) – at least the Interislander now offers a decent selection of Kiwi craft beers.
A fortnight ago I had to make a last-minute trip to Wellington and booked the ferry at short notice. While my first choice is usually Bluebridge – I prefer its friendly have-a-go Kiwi service – this time I booked with Interislander as it offered preferable sailing times.
Having previously lamented the lack of decent beer on the interisland ferries, this time I was delighted to see beer lists proudly displayed on each table in the Aratere’s bar area. Better still, locally brewed beers from Wellington’s Garage Project and Parrotdog breweries were featured, alongside beers from Upper Hutt’s Panhead and Kereru breweries. Well done, Interislander.
Talking of good beers, during my overnight stay in Wellington I did manage to sample one of this year’s many fresh hopped beers on tap at Petone’s Queen of Jackson pub. At a robust six per cent and featuring a hefty dose of juicy Nelson Sauvin hops, Boneface Hop Beat Fresh Hop Rye Pale Ale was a delightfully fragrant, yet sessionable beer with a silky, slightly oily mouthfeel. Sadly, I suspect this year’s batch will have sold out by now.
Boneface brewer Matt Dainty began brewing commercially at Blenheim’s Renaissance brewery, and it was there that his love of rye and hops was first developed, in beers such as Black the RIPA and Bloody RIPA. Now brewing at his own brewery in Upper Hutt, Matt’s range also includes a soft, rounded hop-driven lager, Boneface Outlaw IPL (5.2 per cent), which I enjoyed, as well as Boneface India Stout (5.8 per cent), Hoptron APA (5.5 per cent) and The Juice (a dry-hopped, kettle-soured gose), which I have yet to taste.
One final comment about the Queen of Jackson. Described by Google as an ‘‘esteemed Englishstyle pub with a rooftop garden bar furnishing imaginative local cuisine’’, the Petone bar is most certainly a comfortable and friendly spot to enjoy an everchanging selection of tasty brews, but I didn’t find anything vaguely ‘‘English-style’’ about it. Then again, I should probably stop being a whingeing Pom.
Meanwhile, I’m heading off on my tour – first stop, Russian River Brewing Co in Santa Rosa. I’ll report back in a fortnight. Cheers!