Ka¯ piti brewers toast of festival
North End Brewing’s Kieran Haslett-Moore said the festival was seeing a much larger demographic of people who were interested in craft beer and brewing, with barrel beers particularly popular this year.
He was pouring a range of beers made by the Waikanae brewery, including the popular Pit Boss, Baby Grand and Flanders Red varieties.
Tuatara Brewing’s Carl Vasta said they had been attending Beervana since its inception, and it was now something of an institution for Wellington’s craft brewing scene.
In an innovative twist, Tuatara was pouring a new whiskey sour beer served with a foam made of egg white, sugar syrup and lemon zest squeezed on top using a nitro tank.
It had been extremely popular over the weekend, he said.
The new brew was being served alongside Tuatara’s renowned mainstay brews including their pilsner and IPA.
Nearby, the Independence Collective was also receiving an enthusiastic response for their Changemaker Pale Ale.
The brewing collective was started by four people with intellectual disabilities who wanted to create their own business rather than working for others. The project has been an enormous boost to the group’s independence and confidence and the beer they have brewed, assisted by Duncan’s Brewing Co, another Ka¯ piti local business, is now stocked in multiple bars and cafes in the area.
Duncan’s was also represented at Beervana, with head brewer George Duncan on site to pour a range of beers, including their Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream Sour which was frequently found trending near the top of an online leaderboard, ranked by attendees through the Beervana app.
The festival began in 2002 as Brew NZ in Wellington’s Town Hall by the Brewers Guild of New Zealand. It has grown massively from an original attendance of around 200 people to about 14,000.