Beer Tasting

On Monday, Keith and I sampled our latest beer which is a European style Munich beer. This time around we chose to use the finest ingredients we could find in order to make the best possible beer.

The ingredients cost $70 (£28) and we ended up with 21 litres (37 pints) so that works out at $1.89 (76p) a pint. Not bad at all.

I'm happy to announce that the beer tasted pretty good and was a huge improvement over our last effort teaching us that you really do get back what you put in and from now on, we're only going to use the best ingredients.

On Tuesday evening we took a walk up the road to our favourite bar, Pomeroy's, for a beer tasting session. It cost us $25 and all the beers were exclusively New Zealand and nearly all from the south island.

It took place in the restaurant section of the bar which is separated by glass doors and exudes a nice relaxed family-country dining experience and I have decided to have my birthday meal there too as the menu looks inviting - right now I'd opt for the Trio of Pork on roast kumara with Christmas mince so watch this space and see if it still tickles my fancy in 4 weeks time!

We were all handed a sheet with the list of beers we would be sampling and a description of where it's from and the taste we should expect from it. There was a wide range on offer and we would be starting with light beers and working our way to the darker beers at the end which arguably have more flavour and alcoholic content.

There were two guys leading the evening and they were very informative about each beer but also about how beers differ, especially in New Zealand because of the water from the well it is taken from and the process it goes through.

We were given a special treat at the end as one of the guys gave us a taste of his own porter style beer with elements of peat and bourbon giving it a great smell and taste. They were all on sale afterwards but unfortunately the best which was saved until last was the last of his batch.

In general, I am not a fan of New Zealand beer and by that I mean the majority of what is on offer in the majority of bars. I find them bland and watery - think Miller and you're on the right track. However, there are a few exeptions and what makes a place like Pomeroy's special is that all the beers are non-big brands and brewed for a small market of beer lovers. I'm just glad it's within walking distance of the house!