Capital clues

Five things about Beervana, which is on in Wellington this Friday and Saturday (August 9 and 10): 1) Queue jumping. Sometimes I think people in Wellington come to Beervana only to dose up on the latest offerings from Garage Project. Last year, queuing for their stand was like being on Auckland’s southern motorway on a Friday afternoon at the start of a holiday (non-Aucklanders, imagine being in a giant car park). This year Garage Project will have two stands at Beervana – whether that means reduced queues, I do not know. It might work on the ‘‘build it and they will come’’ philosophy and the lines will be just as long. It’s remarkable to think that yesterday marked the second birthday of this boom brewery that will have 14 beers on offer, with one stand doing a ‘‘normal’’ range and another devoted to experimental beers. 2) Bloody media. The best-kept secret of Beervana is the media collaboration. It’s usually in a dark room down the back of Westpac Stadium and while the judging itself is a little dry, if you hang around afterwards, you can usually get your hands on some pretty amazing concoctions. Last year, the quality was outstanding (including the infamous and divisive horseradish beer I did with Hallertau’s Steve Plowman). I’m not involved this year but my colleague, Sarah Harvey, teamed up with Luke Nicholas to make a beer out of Steinlager and jet plane lollies (read her story in today’s Sunday magazine). 3) Go see the Aussies. Normally I’d be advocating everyone to taste as much NZ beer as possible but there’s an Australian stand that I know will attract a lot of attention. Some of my favourite brewers from Melbourne’s GABS festival were Feral (whose Watermelon Warhead was last year’s hit beer), Two Birds and Bridge Road. 4) The newcomers. For the first time in a few years, the list of new brewers at Beervana is substantial. At the New Zealand bar, there are quite a few names I’ve not heard of, let alone sampled. Experienced craft beer drinkers looking for something new should seek out these brewers – you just never know what sort of gem you’ll uncover. I’m particularly interested to see the reaction to Panhead, a new venture set up by Mike Neilson, who made his name as the brewer of Tuatara’s finely crafted range. Mike’s got a large range on offer and he’s sure to make an impact. And there are also new beers to be had from established brewers, in particular a new IPA from Epic, called Comet; Emerson’s Brewer’s Reserve range, including the luscious Bald Eagle; and 8-Wired’s 2011 Grand Cru. 5) Festive frolics. There’s always a theme at Beervana and this year it is to make a beer without one of its traditional ingredients – yeast, water, malt and hops. I reckon it’ll be hard to leave out yeast or water but you never know – can you make beer with L&P or Fanta? Malt can be replaced by other carbohydrate and I’ve had some pretty cool rice-based beer, while corn was a traditional South American ingredient. The easiest thing to replace is hops. There are lots of herbs and plants that can be used to bitter beer or create aromatics and I think we’ll see some special concoctions.