Pete Gillespie (left) and Jos Ruffell (right) of the Garage Project, with Nøgne Ø head brewer, Kjetil Jikiun (centre). November 21, 2011, Wellington.

L-R: Søren Erikson of 8 Wired Brewing Co., Kjetil Jikiun, head brewer at Nøgne Ø, and Andy Deuchars of Renaissance Brewing, collaborating on a brew at Renaissance Brewery in Blenheim. November 23, 2011

The Moa Front Row. Brewery operators Josh (left) and Sam (right), with head brewer and hooker, Dave Nicholls (centre). November 24, 2011, Marbourough.

.beerProjectCaption{font-size:smaller;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;padding:10px 10px 10px 10px;} .beerProjectBoth900{background-color:#222;color:#ccc;margin-top:35px;border:1px solid #222;width:900px;} Pete Gillespie (left) and Jos Ruffell (right) of the Garage Project, with Nøgne Ø head brewer, Kjetil Jikiun (centre). November 21, 2011, Wellington. ...

Garage Project have been impressing and confounding Wellington beer drinkers nearly every Tuesday at Hashigo Zake since they launched their first beers on August 2nd. Yesterday they brewed a beer to continue this trend in collaboration with Norway’s first microbrewery, Nøgne Ø. Founder and head brewer Kjetil Jikiun was in Aro Valley with Pete and Jos to brew a New Zealand Christmas Rye Blond with Pohutukawa honey.

Here are my favourite photos from the day.

If you enjoyed those then there are plenty more photos to see.

Garage Project have been impressing and confounding Wellington beer drinkers nearly every Tuesday at Hashigo Zake since they launched their first beers on August 2nd. Yesterday they brewed a beer to continue this trend in collaboration with Norway's first microbrewery, Nøgne Ø. Founder and head brewer Kjetil Jikiun was in Aro Valley with Pete ...

Ian Ramsay, the brewer at Galbraith’s Alehouse in Auckland, is the most methodical, meticulous, and modest brewer I have met. Those are essential qualities to be a brewer (well, the first two at least) but Ian masterfully takes them to another level.


Today is Ian’s birthday. I was surprised to find out that he turned sixty five. The man has more energy than brewers forty years his junior. He makes damn fine beer too, although he’ll try to play it down. Happy birthday, Ian.

Have a look at the full set of photos.

If you’re in Auckland on Monday, make sure you head in to Galbraith’s for the first release of the Guest Cask Series. The first beer in the series is The Yeastie Boys Nerdherder B, brewed by Ian and Yeastie Boy B, Stu McKinlay. Monday is also the brew day for the second beer in the Guest Cask Series. Chris “Father” O’Leary from Emerson’s (and ex-owner/brewer of Limburg, the brewery that converted me into a wheat beer lover in the early 2000s) will be there brewing a Red IPA. It’s the perfect chance to show your love for craft beer by hugging a brewer or three.

Ian Ramsay, the brewer at Galbraith's Alehouse in Auckland, is the most methodical, meticulous, and modest brewer I have met. Those are essential qualities to be a brewer (well, the first two at least) but Ian masterfully takes them to another level. Today is Ian's birthday. I was surprised to find out that he turned ...

Mikkeller Bar, 10 May 2010

Today is the first birthday of Mikkeller Bar in Copenhagen. This time last year I was in Copenhagen for a few weeks of work. We missed the bar’s opening night but over the following two weeks we became their first regulars, thanks to the bar being 100m from our hotel and, of course the incredible beer selection. Fifteen taps (now twenty!) constantly rotating through the huge Mikkeller range and a few guests from around the world, plus many bottled beers, including my favourite: the barrel-aged Mikkeller Nelson Sauvignon.


One night two big Mikkeller fans, one from Denmark and one from the USA, made a short movie while we were drinking there. The Danish fan, “Dr Ericschon”, is famous in the Danish beer world for making so-bad-they’re-good fan adverts for Mikkeller. This one is my favourite. The American fan is actually a big fan of the fan, so much so that he re-makes the same ads. The movie below shows them meeting at Mikkeller Bar.


If you look closely at about 0:19 you’ll see my colleague Pete and I in the background, alongside Kristina Bozic, co-owner of West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago (They stock a good range of NZ beers, including Epic and 8 Wired, if you’re ever feeling homesick in Chicago).

Here’s a photo I took during rehearsals: Dr. Erik Schon meets Not Dr. Erik Schon, May 11 2010.

Happy birthday, Mikkeller Bar! I wish I could be there to help with celebrations and see what other bizarre things are happening. Maybe I’ll pop down to Hashigo Zake for a Mikkeller toast.

.beerProjectCaption{font-size:smaller;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;padding:4px 10px 4px 10px;} .beerProjectBoth{background-color:#222;color:#ccc;margin-top:35px;border:1px solid #222;width:800px;} Mikkeller Bar, 10 May 2010 Today is the first birthday of Mikkeller Bar in Copenhagen. This time last year I was in Copenhagen for a few weeks of work. We ...

Extreme beers evoke extreme reactions. Everyone remembers the first time they tried Rodenbach Grand Cru, and anyone who has tried one will have mischievously given one to an uninitiated friend (or enemy, depending on your appreciation of the beer) just to see the look on their face. It was the thought of these looks that had me grabbing my camera and heading along to the launch of Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude at Regional Wines and Spirits last Saturday.


Rex Attitude, Yeastie Boys’ new all-year-’round beer, is an extreme beer. It is brewed with malt that has been smoked over burning peat. This peated malt is what gives Islay whiskies, such as Laphroig and Bowmore, their distinctive smokey, medicinal flavour. When common lore says that a beer brewed with more than 5% peated malt would be undrinkable then it’s not hard to push the limits towards the extreme. But when The Yeastie Boys announced their new beer would be made with 100% peated malt many suspected they had lost their common sense.


It only takes one sip to decide whether this beer is genius or folly. Either way, hopefully someone will be there with a camera.


These are my photos of what I call The Rex Attitude. I’d love to see yours. Post links to your photos in the comments.

Here’s a photo I took of Rex Attitude to help you find it.

Extreme beers evoke extreme reactions. Everyone remembers the first time they tried Rodenbach Grand Cru, and anyone who has tried one will have mischievously given one to an uninitiated friend (or enemy, depending on your appreciation of the beer) just to see the look on their face. It was the thought of these looks ...

Last Friday the teams from Yeasties Boys, 8 Wired, and Renaissance got together to brew a special beer. Beer geeks will know that any beer made by Stu (Yeastie Boy B) or Søren (8 Wired) will be pretty special and there would be even higher expectations for a collaboration. This brew was extra extra special because all of the proceeds from the beer would go to charities providing aid after the Christchurch earthquakes and the Queensland floods. The brewery, the brewers’ time, and all ingredients have been donated to keep costs to a minimum.

The brew day went well and Søren reported via twitter on Saturday that the beer was fermenting nicely. This morning, 19 April, 2011, he said that the beer smells like a freshly squeezed orchard. Look forward to a hoppy sessionable amber ale, with a Saison twist.

Søren, Stu, and Sam tweak the recipe the night before the brew.

An early start at Renaissance Brewing Company.

Søren supervises Sam and Stu cleaning out the mash tun.

Sam supervises Søren scrubbing the mash tun.

Søren prepares some olive oil to add to the wort (as an oxygen replacement)

Stu adds some Pacifica hops to the kettle

Stu adds some Styrian Goldings hops to the hop-back.

The charity brewing team: Brian Thiel (Renaissance), Søren Erikson (8 Wired/Renaissance), Stu McKinlay (Yeastie Boy B), Sam Possenniskie (Yeastie Boy D), and Andy Deuchars (Renaissance).

Check out Stu’s account of the day at The Yeastie Boys’ Posterous blog and suggest a name for the beer.

* please pronounce ‘Sais’ incorrectly so it sounds like ‘sighs’. No one knows how to pronounce Saison properly anyway.

Last Friday the teams from Yeasties Boys, 8 Wired, and Renaissance got together to brew a special beer. Beer geeks will know that any beer made by Stu (Yeastie Boy B) or Søren (8 Wired) will be pretty special and there would be even higher expectations for a collaboration. This brew was extra extra ...

I’m off to Marchfest this weekend. While I will be carrying a camera it’s mainly an opportunity to spend some time with family back where I grew up. I’m sure I’ll also bump into some old friends and make some new ones too. Good beer is good like that.


I haven’t photographed nearly enough brewers from the top of the south but here are an extra-large handful of them for your viewing pleasure. I’ll be stalking the rest at Marchfest.


Reuben Lee from the Mussel Inn

Mat the Monkey Wizard

Martin Townshend from Townshend Brewery

John and Matt Duncan from Founders Brewery

Søren Eriksen From 8 Wired

Andy Deuchars from Renaissance

I'm off to Marchfest this weekend. While I will be carrying a camera it's mainly an opportunity to spend some time with family back where I grew up. I'm sure I'll also bump into some old friends and make some new ones too. Good beer is good like that. I haven't photographed nearly enough brewers ...

I happened to be passing through Rotorua last week so I arranged to pop in and see the friendly guys at Croucher Brewing Co., Paul Croucher & Nigel Gregory. Here are my favourite photos from my time there.

Paul waits for malt to go through the mill.

Paul mixes the mash.

Paul prepares to transfer the mash to the lauter tun.

Paul cleans the elements in the kettle.

Paul and Nigel do a bit of quality control.

Now go take a look at the full set. There are some goodies. Let me know your favourites in the comments.

I happened to be passing through Rotorua last week so I arranged to pop in and see the friendly guys at Croucher Brewing Co., Paul Croucher & Nigel Gregory. Here are my favourite photos from my time there. Paul waits for malt to go through the mill. Paul mixes the mash. Paul prepares to transfer the mash ...

Monday last week, February 21, I started working through my backlog of photos from breweries in an effort to get The Beer Project back on track. I started with Cassels & Sons, a new brewery in Christchurch that I had photographed last October, a month after the 7.1 earthquake. Their temporary brewery survived the shake but there appeared to be some urgency in getting on with the earthquake strengthening of the old tannery building next door, the future location of the brewery, restaurant and bar.

I made good progress on the hardest part of the job: editing the 120 photos I took down to the best twenty or so photos that will go in the gallery here. I ended up with a rough edit of thirty photos that I decided to sleep on and look at with fresh eyes the following night. Except the following night my eyes couldn’t be pulled off the TV. Another earthquake had shaken Christchurch, this time with much more force. It was impossible to stop watching the footage of the aftermath and the broken buildings as my mind struggled to comprehend the scale of it. I lived in Christchurch for most of the ’90s and I kept remembering more and more friends I needed to contact to check they were OK. Favourite places that were likely to be rubble. And worried about the brewers I had photographed and their breweries.


On the night of the earthquake this appeared on Cassels & Sons Facebook page: “Brewery is screwed… Thousands of litres of beer destroyed. Nobody injured thank God! A dark day indeed.” They were not the only brewery to suffer damage. Grieg McGill, from the Society of Beer Advocates, has collated a useful summary of the earthquake’s effect on the Christchurch beer scene. Thankfully everybody is safe but it may be some time before they get back to business.


So what can we do to help? Donate to The Red Cross. Attend a Beer lovers solidarity session for Christchurch in your area this Friday, March 4. And, of course, drink Christchurch beers where they are available.


As I go to post this I see that Cassels & Sons have put the clip below on YouTube, a look at the damage to the brewery and what the future holds. “We will be brewing next week.” If some makes it to Wellington I’ll buy a dozen. I hope you will too.

Monday last week, February 21, I started working through my backlog of photos from breweries in an effort to get The Beer Project back on track. I started with Cassels & Sons, a new brewery in Christchurch that I had photographed last October, a month after the 7.1 earthquake. Their temporary brewery survived the ...

NZ Craft Beer TV are nearing the end of their epic circumnavigation of New Zealand. Luke Nicholas and Kelly Ryan of Epic Brewing, with the help of their film crew, Scott and Jacob, have visited and filmed most of the country’s breweries and many of the great beer bars in just eighteen days. This effort easily doubles the number of breweries I have managed to visit in as many months!

I missed catching up with Luke and Kelly in Golden Bay and Nelson due to some sad events but managed to snap a few photos of them at the end of the Wellington leg of their tour.


The unstoppable NZ Craft Beer TV crew, halted by missing campervan keys.

Jacob photographs Kelly, Stu (Yeastie Boy B), and Luke in the parking lot beside Hashigo Zake.

I call this one “Guess the Colour of Stu’s Pants”.

Check out the trailer for the South Island leg of their journey. I can’t wait to see the finished series.

[Update] By popular demand here is a picture of Stu’s butt pants in their full-colour glory.

NZ Craft Beer TV are nearing the end of their epic circumnavigation of New Zealand. Luke Nicholas and Kelly Ryan of Epic Brewing, with the help of their film crew, Scott and Jacob, have visited and filmed most of the country's breweries and many of the great beer bars in just eighteen days. This ...