THE FREE HOUSE

For more than a decade, The Free House has been a place of salvation for anyone wanting to worship at the altar of craft beer. Housed in a converted church, it hosts an ever-revolving line-up of beers guaranteed to impress even the most discerning connoisseurs.

The bar has a beer garden, which features a Mexican food truck, so the danger of one pint stretching into several is always on the table. A more recent addition to the pub is a record store, started by local music aficionado, Grant Smithies, and his wife Jose Cachemaille. Grant lamented the death of places where people could buy and talk music. Now, he says he greets all kinds. “From obsessive record-collector types and those who have a pint and get nostalgic for the formative music of their youth to those who are about 18 to 20 buying the vinyl of Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and the Doors. It's the same stuff I was buying at their age with my paper-run money. And it's really social.” 95 Collingwood Street.

(03) 548 9391, thefreehouse.co.nz