Beervana

Find Yourself at Beervana! 22-23 August 2014. Wellington, NZ

[beervanablog]

Tell us why you'd like to WIN a DOUBLE PASS to Beervana session one homebrewing masterclass with Luke from Epic Beer. Best answer wins the passes and 2x packs of Riwaka Hops from Black Rock Home Brewing!

[Contest closes Aug 8 at 11.59pm. Judged by Festival Director David Cryer. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or Tumblr, and by entering you agree to a complete release from Facebook & Tumblr.]

[beervanablog]

How Wet Hops Will Make Your Beer Amazing!

Kim Sturdevant from Social Brewing explains the process of Fresh Hops from bine to brew in this enlightening video!

#craft101

[beervanablog]

Jon Marowski from Laughing Bones Brewing tells us why Fresh Hop beers are going to be an awesome thing for Auckland! 

[beervanablog]

Steve from Hallertau telling us how FRESH HOP beer will impact Auckland. 

RSVP #freshhopnz14 Launch | http://on.fb.me/1kVKEFy

[beervanablog]

Fresh Hop Beer Launch 24 April

This is where it all began--a group of Auckland brewers among the hop fields of Waimea. 

Now the beers are almost ready.

Come celebrate with us, on 24 April, the launch of #freshhopnz14 beer in 24 bars and outlets across Auckland. 

Get the full list of bars and brewers & RSVP

Many thanks to hop grower Peter and Doug Donelan from NZ Hops for giving us their precious time on the day. It was enlightening.

[beervanablog]

It may not be a pretty picture on the outside, but it sure is pretty on the inside of these bins--where a bunch of Waimea fresh hops are chilling, literally.

The hops are stored in these bins so they can breathe, so they won't heat up, and to prevent them from getting squashed.

Refrigerated overnight and chilled to -4 °C, the hops will be shipped at this temperature all the way to Auckland on Strait Freight where they get unloaded into the Steam Brewing Chiller. Brewers will uplift their hops on Friday 28 March for fresh brewing. 

This really is a science...

[beervanablog]

“Auckland Green hops picked Tuesday shipped overnight on Wednesday, we have to pull the heat out of them here before we load them out. “

—Doug Donelan, NZ Hops 

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers - Soren Erikson - 8 Wired Brewing Co.

"8 Wired Brewing is inspired by the legendary Kiwi can-do mentality and fellow craft brewers who have dared to challenge the masses and show us all that beer is no longer “just beer”!

All of our brews are crafted by Søren Eriksen, a nomadic Danish brewer who has finally found permanent ground in Marlborough, New Zealand. Expect unique brews, expect ingenuity in flavour, expect new world interpretations of classic styles."

—8 Wired Brewing Co website 

[beervanablog]

From Bine to Brewer - the Fresh Hops Journey

Fresh Hops are chopped down, put on the back of a tractor, and taken to the kiln. They are hung up, and a machine knocks hops off. Another machine gets rid of stalks to end up with hop flowers.

The flowers are taken across the road into a chiller with a temperature of 5 degrees, and onto a refrigerated truck the next day at the correct temperature.

The hops travel overnight to Auckland, where they will be dropped at Steam Brewing Otahuhu for brewers to uplift. 

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers - Bradford Tetlow

"Little Empire is a 600L brewery at the rear of The Crown in Auckland’s CBD. The DME brewery has crossed the Tasman at least twice during its life producing beer in Aussie and New Zealand. When The Crown was purchased by the Pack Group in 2013 the bar decided to keep the brewery and employ a rotating pool of around 10 “contract” brewers.

Bradford Tetlow is one of those brewers. An Aussie who crossed the ditch 3 years ago he completed his brewing science degree at Ballarat University. He spent 4 years working with the Victorian Craft Beer industry through the University as well as working as Chief Steward for the Australian international Beer Awards.”

[beervanablog]

The brewers were pretty stoked to rub the hops, feel oil levels, and see volumes of what they'll be using for their brew. They were able to smell the citrusy, savory, intensely pungent gooseberry, and sav blanc flavors of the aromatic Waimea hops. These hops are more intense compared to other varieties in the world, and the floral and savory notes will come out in the beer. 

[Brewers Craig Cooper, Joe Wood, and Hamish Ward get up close and personal to the crop selected by Doug Donelan of NZ Hops.]

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers - here are our #freshhopnz14 brewers getting amongst the harvest yesterday.  Many of the brewers have not used fresh hops before so this visit was a chance for them to get a better feel for the flower, and how they can incorporate it into their fresh hop brew. 

From left to right, 

Jon Morawski - Brothers Brewery Joe Wood - Liberty Brewing Hamish Ward - Deep Creek Brewery Matt Short - Shakespeare Brewing Andrew Larsen, Brothers Brewery Steve Plowman - Hallertau Brewing Luke Nicholas - Epic Brewing Bradford Tetlow - The Crown Sam Williamson - Galbraith Brewing Craig Cooper - Bach Brewing

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers - Sam Williamson - Galbraith Brewing Company

The Galbraith Brewing Company installed it’s timber-clad cask conditioned ale kit at the Alehouse on Mount Eden Road in 1995 by founder and Head Brewer Keith Galbraith. It remains one of New Zealand’s most loved and respected brew-pubs. 

Travelling to the Nelson hop fields will be Sam Williamson our brewer at Galbraith’s Alehouse in Auckland, New Zealand. 

He achieved his Diploma in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in 2011 and received his BSc (Chem) from the University of Auckland in 2003. He has been working in the NZ brewing industry for ten years. 

Sam has recently been awarded runner-up “Younger Member of the Year 2013/14” by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, a London-based commercial brewers’ organisation. 

Go Sam!

Sam joined the Galbraith’s team in 2013. “Most brewers feel a sense of achievement having their first beer served at Auckland’s premiere brew-pub, and I feel truly honoured to have mine on tap every day” says Sam. 

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers - Craig Cooper - Bach Brewing

Resurrected from an original pioneer craft brewery, Bach Brewing is family owned and reflects the homegrown simplicity and freedom of NZ's Kiwi Bach lifestyle. 

We create brews with tasty character and relaxed drinkability, including a couple of beers built upon trophy winning recipes. 

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers - Andrew Childs (Behemoth Brewing Company) 

Established in June 2013, Behemoth Brewing Company was born out of obsession for brewing and drinking good beer. 

Started by Andrew Childs, who won the 'Wellington in a Pint' competition and teamed up with Yeastie Boys to create the Celia Wade Brown Ale. 

Behemoth is now on a mission to brewing bigger tasting, interesting and flavourful beers.

[beervanablog]

Meet the Brewers...LUKE NICHOLAS

Luke loves hops. He is the head brewer at EPIC BEER, and brewer of supreme champion award-winning beers, which are known for being hop forward. Luke is an international beer judge, industry commentator and all round champion for craft beer.

[beervanablog]

Fresh Hops 2014 Brewer's Journey

Next week, a group of Auckland brewers will travel to Nelson, NZ to visit a local hops grower. The brewers will inspect the crop, talk to the grower, and fraternize among themselves, sharing stories about beer, and brewing. But one thing they won't be sharing -- are recipes for their FRESH HOP brew. 

The following week, when the hops are harvested, packed, and shipped to their respective breweries, the brewers will get to work; the work of creating the finest fresh hop brew. 

The brews will launch to a thirsty audience of judges - 24 April, and will be available to the public on tap, at each brewery and selected bars across Auckland -- until they run out.

Follow the journey of 13 brewers right here, from the hop field to tap, the camaraderie, and the competition.

Who will be judged BEST FRESH HOPS BREW 2014?