Beer, glorious Beer!
Little old Aotearoa New Zealand certainly punches above its weight with its world class Craft Beers.
From an avid beer lover perspective, it doesn’t seem that long ago to me that our choices were Draught, Lager, Lager or Draught!
From Hazys to Hoppy IPA’s, Saison to Sours, Porters to Pale Ales and everything in between, there is a great New Zealand Craft Beer for everyone!
Living in Wellington or visiting our fabulous capital city means you are in ‘Craft Beer Heaven’!
So what is the best way to experience our world class Craft Beers? On a guided, private Craft Beer Tour with Kaewa Tours of course!
What’s involved on your private Craft Beer Tour with Kaewa Tours?
After picking you up from your requested pick-up location in Wellington, we work our way up the Hutt Valley to our first Craft Brewery in Upper Hutt – Kereru Brewing owned by Natasha Dahlberg and Chris Mills. On some occasions, we get an opportunity to take a look behind the scenes in the Brewery. Kereru have over 10 beers on tap along with an extensive range of beers for sale and some great merchandise. Pick up a branded Kereru t-shirt, a mixed 6 pack or fill up a rigger – or perhaps all of the above! Apart from the amazing beers Chris, Natasha and the Kereru team produce, the other aspects we love about Kereru is the amazing branding/artwork which Natasha is responsible for and their fantastic sustainable business practices they have implemented. Check out Kereru’s sustainable business practices they have implemented here.
My latest beer I’ve tried from the Kereru team was their Camp Fire Smoked IPA (6.5% ABV). I must admit after the first couple of sips I wasn’t sure about the smokiness but after the 3rd and 4th sips I was converted! Well worth giving this one a go.
We head into Brewtown for our second brewery visit for tastings (a tasting platter of 4 beers) and lunch at Te Aro Brewing. A very interesting beer I’ve recently consumed from the Te Aro team is the ‘Venus’ Mango Chilli IPA. What a hit on my palate! The Mango came through quickly on the front palate with the fire of the Chilli coming through on my back palate around 5 seconds later. This was quite the beer experience and not for the faint hearted! To quote the Te Aro team – “This is no joke beer, this is a delicious treat for yourself or maybe even some one you might actually care for.” Hell no, I’m having this all for myself!
After our tasting platter and lunch at Te Aro Brewing, we head back towards Wellington stopping at Abandoned Brewery in Lower Hutt for tastings and a tour of this very cool brewery where, to quote the Abandoned Team, “a place joy forgot”! Thankfully joy was recreated, and great beers have been brewed since 2017 by Owner Tim Ward and more recently from the Head Brewer Charlotte Feehan. A Wellington Craft Beer tour is not complete without stopping by to chat and most importantly taste the Abandoned beers with Tim, Charlotte, Tom and Kayla.
The latest beer I’ve had from Abandoned was their West Coast IPA (7% ABV). Fair to say I’ll be back to the Brewery for more!
After our Brewery tour and tastings at Abandoned has concluded we head back to Wellington and visit the good guys at Double Vision Brewing in Miramar (open Thursday-Sundays). Double Vision has become my favourite city brewery. Double Vision is owned by 4 mates – Warren, Harry, Evarn and Mario.
A visit to Double Vision is not complete without tasting their White Knight White Stout (6% ABV) – yes that’s right, a White Stout! I can’t get enough of this gem of a beer! Think Coffee, Chocolate, Vanilla and Whiskey – now that’s a meal in a glass!
Another favourite of mine from Double Vision is the Smooth Operator Cream Ale (4.7% ABV). A lovely smooth Ale with Honey and Vanilla. Quite the treat!
To quote the good guys at Double Vision – “We give the recipe boundaries a bit of a nudge. Yeah sure it might not please the Purity Police, but actually, we’re good with that”. Well it certainly meets with my approval and I’m not calling the Purity Police in a hurry!
If you’ve booked a Craft Beer Tour on a Friday or Saturday we visit Garage Projects Wild Workshop Cellar Door on Taranaki Street to sample some of their very funky Saisons and Sours.
Some common questions I get asked when on a Kaewa Tours private Craft Beer tour:
What beers have I been drinking lately?
- My go to beer is typically a Hazy IPA and I prefer to support our local industry. However, in saying that, if I’m in another part of the country I like to sample local brews. We were recently in Wanaka and I enjoyed a Rhyme X Reason Voyage to Nectaron Hazy IPA, brewed locally in Wanaka.
What breweries do you choose to go to and why?
- We are proud of our ethical procurement policy and have strong views around what companies we support. We will only visit Breweries that are small, boutique and privately owned. Our ethos is “locals supporting locals”. Put it this way, would you prefer to support a Brewery owned by a large Dutch brewing company or a Kiwi small business owner?
What’s your favourite type of beer?
- In summer I do like the occasional Hazy Pale Ale or Hazy IPA. In winter, I prefer a good local Porter.
Ready for a couple of beers and a guaranteed fun day out? Come experience true Kiwi hospitality at its finest with Kaewa Tours. Head over to the website to book now.
Any questions? Drop us an email at info@kaewatours.co.nz or give us a call +64 21 2800075.
