First responders to down a cold one at launch
Summer’s here, so it’s time to sit back, relax and maybe crack open a beer – why not one for a good cause?
Wellington breweries Black Dog and Tuatara have partnered to produce around 17 kegs of a special summer brew, raising money for the Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA).
Black Dog brewery manager Adrian Klemp said Wellington was the only city in New Zealand that had a free ambulance service.
‘‘It’s quite special and we want to keep it that way.’’
The First Responders beer – a Pacific pale ale flavoured with tangelo – is happily bubbling away at Black Dog’s Cuba St brewery and will be launched at a three-day First Responders Festival in January.
Last Thursday representatives from both breweries and the WFA, as well as mayor Justin Lester, gathered at Black Dog Brewery to start the brew.
‘‘There was a lot of experience in the room and we all get on really well,’’ Klemp said.
Tuatara craft beer ambassador Will Keys said everybody helped put the mash in.
A similar beer collaboration last year raised $10,000 for the WFA and Klemp hoped to match that.
The First Responder beer will be brewed over the summer and ready for consumption, and fundraising, early next year.
‘‘We’re really lucky to have [WFA] so we do whatever we can to help out,’’ Keys said.
Fundraising for the ambulance service will be at the heart of the First Responders Festival which will be held over three days.
Centred around St Johns Bar and Restaurant on Wellington’s waterfront, the festival will start on the evening of January 25 and run throughout the weekend.
The first pour of the First Responder brew will be auctioned off, as well as a host of other prizes. There will be beer and food matches with tasting sessions from both breweries and the final day of the festival will have a heavy emphasis on family, with bouncy castles, face painting and mini cars to drive around the waterfront.
The First Responders beer will be available from late January at St John’s Bar and Restaurant on the water front, Black Dog Brewery at 216 Cuba St and at both of Tuatara’s tasting rooms: 7 Sheffield St, Paraparaumu and the Third Eye, 30 Arthur St, Te Aro, Wellington.