BAR OF THE MONTH - December

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for December is Albar, Dunedin.

Since last year, Albar have doubled their number of handpumps. Amongst the beers being dispensed is likely to be Albar Golden (5.2%), brewed for them at the Invercargill Brewery. Also on tap recently have been beers such as Cassels Milk Stout, Emerson's Bookbinder and Porter, and even Belhaven Best. Despite the barman's claims, it seems unlikely that this latter can have been cask-conditioned. Mind you, its lengthy journey from Scotland was all too evident in its taste! The other beers are generally reasonably good, so long as you check they haven't been sitting in the pipes for too long, where the beer warms up and goes stale. Inevitably, some of the beer tastes fresher and livelier than other beer. One assumes that some of the 'flatter', more bland beer dispensed by handpump isn't actually living at all, having been either pasteurised or filtered, or both. If so, this is regrettable since the bar's approach is a breath of fresh air around The Octagon. They and their beer deserve to be more heavily patronised which may, in turn, increase their turnover to justify running four handpumps.

Eureka

Eureka Cafe and Bar, Albany St, Dunedin.

Eureka Bar, close to Otago University, has a well-deserved local reputation for the 'craft beers' it serves. Hand-pulled beer has become has become a regular feature of their bar in recent times. Cassels outstanding Milk Stout or a Golden Eagle beer have recently been served from their handpump.

BAR OF THE MONTH - November

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for November is The Brewery, Cassels & Sons Brewery at The Tannery, Woolston, Christchurch.

In the 6 months since opening, the Cassels Brewery has gone from strength to strength. The beer remains of a consistently excellent quality, and is rarely matched anywhere in New Zealand, other than at Galbraith's. This outstanding establishment is a shining light in Christchurch's rebuild.

BAR OF THE MONTH - October

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for October is Pomeroy's Old Brewery Inn, Christchurch.

The welcome from Steve and his family is second-to-none, making this traditional pub a firm favourite with its loyal customers. This characterful old brick inn was originally Ward's Brewery, but has just celebrated a decade since being established as Pomeroy's Old Brewery Inn. Many of the surrounding buildings were destroyed in the earthquake, but Pomeroy's had sufficient earthquake strengthening to withstand the devastating February quake and the seemingly never-ending aftershocks. The photo above dates from the beginning of April, just after Pomeroy's had moved outside the cordon and been able to reopen much to the delight of those of us who were going stir crazy in the city. At the time, getting to it was an arduous task, with long and treacherous silt-filled detours necessary by foot or by road. The effort was more than repaid. In the months since February, when it was one of very few establishments open near the city centre, Pomeroy's has gone from strength to strength. An on-site boutique brewery is planned (brewing and serving real ale, please!), and a second handpump has been installed, with two handpulled beers virtually always being on offer. Breweries represented on the handpump have recently included Townshend, Liberty Brewing, Twisted Hop (as and when barrels get rescued from months of suspended animation in the Red Zone), Three Boys and Golden Eagle. Despite the beer sitting in barrels or bags beneath the bar(!), its temperature isn't usually too far above the correct 12 °C temperature since it is consumed so quickly. Not all of the beers finding their way onto handpump are naturally conditioned either. Despite this, they are generally remarkably good which is, likewise, down to their short shelf life. Surely it wouldn't be so difficult to order cask-conditioned beer in proper barrels, store them in a temperature-controlled area behind the bar and then tap the beer straight from the cask? Now that really would set Pom's apart, and give it a good run at the title of NZ's best pub!

The Hop Garden

The Hop Garden, Pirie St, Wellington.

The Hop Garden, established by Bar Edward's owner, opened at the end of January, and purports to be a relaxed restaurant and 'craft beer' outlet. They have one handpump, pulling beer from a brewery such as Yeastie Boys or Pink Elephant up from a barrel beneath the bar. You may wish to enquire whether the beer being dispensed is cask conditioned, and object if it is being served at room temperature.

BAR OF THE MONTH - September

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for September is The Malthouse, Wellington.

The Malthouse is one of NZ's best known 'craft beer' pubs, and is currently celebrating two decades since opening originally in Willis St. They gave up their slightly 'tucked away' feel and pleasant balcony in 2007 when they moved over to Courtenay Place, to socialize with all the other outlets drawing inebriated teenagers into the capital on a Friday night (or any other night, for that matter). If you can find an evening when you don't have to navigate around abusive, intoxicated youths in what was once Wellington's cultural heart, then a visit to the Malthouse may be in order. On some evenings it can be difficult to get through the oxygen-depleted entrance and into the building, let alone close enough to shout your order to the barman, but on quieter nights you may even manage a conversation about beer with a knowledgeable member of the bar staff. Over the last two or three years, it has become increasingly common to find a beer dispensed by handpump. These days, both handpumps are often in service, and might include offerings from breweries such as Tuatara or Townshend or, most recently, the Cock and Bull Fuggles Best Bitter. It is worth checking whether the beer being served is actually cask-conditioned.

BAR OF THE MONTH - August

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for August is The Cock & Bull, Newmarket.

The Cock & Bull, Newmarket is the 'jewel in the crown' of the five Cock & Bull pubs. The chain's beer is brewed at the Steam Brewing Company in Otahuhu, which started originally in East Tamaki in 1995 behind the chain's first pub. One of their beers, Fuggles Best Bitter, is a true English-style ale, alive and unadulterated by artificial carbon dioxide. Newmarket is generally busy enough to give the eager customer a chance of receiving a fresh, cool, pint, pulled from the handpump. Most of their pubs need to give some attention to their dishwashing procedures as it's not uncommon to receive pints with hardened foam from previous beer causing bubbles on the inside of the glass. This is hardly an enticing start to one's drinking experience at the Cock & Bull! The Newmarket branch opened in 2005, and is a spacious, relaxed, pleasant place to meet friends and enjoy real ale.

BAR OF THE MONTH - July

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for July is The Brewery, Cassels & Sons Brewery at The Tannery, Woolston, Christchurch.

It was as recently at May that I lamented the fact that no establishment in New Zealand would be challenging Galbraith's supremacy in serving proper beer in the foreseeable future. Then along comes a new brewery in earthquake-battered Christchurch, and all that changes. Cassels have been brewing and distributing bottled beer via the local farmers' market over the last year and a half, during which time they have perfected their recipes and brewing process. They have shown enormous resilience over recent months, overcoming one obstacle after another as a result of the earthquakes. Since opening their bar less than three weeks ago, local word-of-mouth has brought in the punters in extraordinary numbers. They are struggling to keep up with the demand for their beer, since they can only fire up their wood-fired kettle for a brew once per day. To alleviate the pressure, ESB (usually bottle-conditioned) is also being served on handpump at the moment. The Woolston Bitter is a perfect session beer; wonderfully fresh and subtle. The Best Bitter has a far more intense hoppy, fruity aroma to it. Perhaps best of all is the gloriously sweet, creamy Milk Stout. Night-after-night since opening, these beers have been in spectacular form. Barrels are stored in a temperature-controlled room behind the bar, from where the pipes feed through to the six handpumps. The beer is consistently served at a perfect 12 °C, with a gloriously fresh bite to it and, in almost every case, beautifully clear. High quality, good value real ale is proving extremely popular in Christchurch at the moment. Other bars should take note.

BAR OF THE MONTH - June

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for June is Speakers Corner English Ale House.

The Speakers Corner English Ale House installed two handpumps at the end of last year with a view to serving Galbraith's real ales. Unlike some bars around the country who sadly content themselves with storing their real ale in bags on the floor at room temperature beneath the bar, this establishment has done the job properly, and stores the barrels in a temperature-controlled cellar. The beer is usually fresh, clear, and at a respectable temperature, so long as the pub is busy. Any bubbles on the side of the glass are more likely to be inadequately cleaned glasses rather than artificial carbonation to the beer. It's a pleasant spot from which to look out over the sea and toast it with a pint of beer. English beer and the seaside. Horrible memories of Clacton return. Perhaps it's the locals loitering in vests in the doorways as they puff at a cigarette end? Suppress the thought. England's a long way away, and it doesn't have anything to compare with the Hauraki Gulf.

Cassels

Cassels & Sons Brewery at The Tannery, Woolston, Christchurch.

See also BAR OF THE MONTH - June 2013, April 2012, November 2011 and July 2011.

Following the brewery's opening last year, their bar opened this week. There are two banks of three handpumps serving three real ales:

BAR OF THE MONTH - May

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for May is Galbraith's.

The idea of nominating a 'Real Ale Bar of the Month' is to showcase a variety of New Zealand's emerging purveyors of real ale. If the award simply went to the establishment serving the best real ale every month, things would get boring, as there is always one clear winner. With the Twisted Hop in Christchurch closed for the foreseeable future following the earthquake (although South Island readers will be glad to know that they are looking in to the possibility of opening a new brew pub outside the city, and a bar in the suburbs), the only other hostelry in the country that might challenge Galbraith's' supremacy is Nelson's Free House. In truth, Galbraith's is so far ahead of the competition, that there's no chance of anyone beating them anytime soon. On every recent visit the beer has been absolutely outstanding, with several pints (sorry, "Colonials" - i.e. the same price as pints used to be, but a smaller volume!) of the Bob Hudson's Bitter amongst the best beer ever consumed by a notoriously hard-to-please British expat. There are very few pubs in Britain that would come close to serving beer of this spectacular quality, so Galbraith's is more than just champion of the southern hemisphere. Admittedly, they do have a huge advantage over other bars wishing to serve real ale - it's brewed on the premises. Nevertheless, this shouldn't be used as an excuse not to try to reach their standard. The quality of NZ-served real ale could be improved immeasurably by sending all publicans and bar-tenders up to Auckland for an obligatory tasting session at Galbraith's. If they can't serve up beer as deliciously fresh, and with that ridiculously smile-inducing clarity and aroma, then they shouldn't be serving beer at all. It is very difficult to fault Galbraith's at the moment. The only criticism that springs to mind is that every time one gets up to buy another pint, one's newspaper is whisked away in an instant by an over-attentive member of staff and added to the communal pile. The 'attention' would be better directed at serving customers at the bar swiftly. And if you see a gentleman in the corner with an inanely silly grin on his face, and tears trickling down his cheeks, purring with pleasure as he lifts a pint to his mouth, it'll be someone who's been away for a while, and just can't believe how good the beer really is. This is why we drink beer. Beer that cannot raise the hairs on the back of one's neck and produce such an emotional response shouldn't be consumed. Unfortunately, drinking beer this good only happens a few times in a lifetime. Get there and try it!

BAR OF THE MONTH - April

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for April is The Moutere Inn.

Virtually all of the bars featured on this website are extremely young. The Moutere Inn, however, claims to be the oldest inn in New Zealand, in terms of still occupying its original buildings. It was built in the 1850s by German immigrant Cordt Bensemann (great grandfather of artist Leo Bensemann), whose compatriots brought with them grapes and hops, for which the region is now well-known. Since October 2008 the Moutere Inn has set about establishing itself as a purveyor of 'craft' beers. Crucially, their bar includes three handpumps. Martin Townshend (of the Townshend Brewery ) was amongst the partners who bought the inn, and his beers are usually available on handpump. Galbraith's Bob Hudson's Bitter and Bellringers Best Bitter have also been available recently. This is very much a community pub, but increasing numbers of tourists are visiting, especially those on local biking trails. Being on a backroad between Richmond and Motueka, this is hardly the sort of place that many people are going to drive past by chance. This makes the challenge of keeping two or three real ales (plus about a dozen gas-dispensed 'craft' beers) considerable. They try to ensure that each barrel doesn't remain on for much more than about four days, but it's certainly worth checking which is the freshest beer and whether any has been pulled through before diving straight in with an order. If you are unfortunate, you can end up with room-temperature beer that has been sitting in the pipes for a while. It seems inexcusable that any self-respecting publican would permit that to happen. Moreover, it is distressing for a knowledgeable beer-lover to watch as a well-meaning tourist returns his flat, warm, stale beer, mumbling apologetically that there "seems to be something wrong with this one" (there was!), only to be told that "it's English beer" and "that's how it's supposed to taste!". Unfortunately this is happening too much in NZ bars starting to introduce their customers to real ale, usually by bar staff who, through no fault of their own, have no idea what proper beer is 'supposed' to taste like. This only serves to give "English beer" a bad name. To state the obvious, real ale should be alive, fresh, clear, have bite and be served at about 12 °C. People being served beer like that will come back for more, not back to return it! The shame of this, is that one mediocre (or worse) pint undoes the good work of 100 well-kept ones. I wouldn't claim that their success rate is quite as favourable as 100 good : 1 bad, but I have enjoyed a number of well-kept, eminently drinkable pints at the Moutere Inn this year. They care about beer, and get it right more often than they get it wrong. Greater attention to the standard of every pint pulled, though, would rightly make this place a tourist destination.

Brew on Quay

Brew on Quay, Auckland.

Brew on Quay (who don't brew, but are on Quay Street) have just installed a handpump, and are presently using it to dispense Moa's Five Hop Winter Ale.

Moa Brewery

The Moa Brewery, Blenheim.

UPDATE: Moa gave their handpump to a Wellington bar some time ago, but don't seem to have any interest in getting it back. Beers available are artificially carbonated or from the bottle.

One of the Moa Brewery's hoppier beers such as Five Hop Winter Ale or Imperial Stout is usually served by handpump in the brewery's attached Bar and Tasting Room.

BAR OF THE MONTH - March

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for March is The Free House.

The minor matter of last month's earthquake in Christchurch interrupted the 'awarding' of February's "Real Ale Bar of the Month". On the brighter side, it did give some displaced people the opportunity to enjoy beer elsewhere in New Zealand, your present correspondent included. The Nelson area is well known for its concentration of micro-breweries, most of whom, alas, only allow their beer to be served in a fizzy format. One honourable exception is Townshend's Brewery. Martin Townshend's beers are becoming more widely stocked by discerning landlords, and include five regular real ales, a 'real' lager and a 'real' cider, and seasonal ales. You are most likely to find the beer in its best condition at the Free House in Nelson. The Free House opened in a converted chapel in 2009, and has quickly become established as a traditional, proper pub. Most importantly, they have three handpumps dispensing Townshend beers, with an occasional guest from Galbraith's or The Twisted Hop as an alternative. It's well worth ensuring some beer has been pulled through recently before ordering a pint, but so long as the pub is busy, you have a good chance of receiving your beer not too much above 12 °C, and in wonderfully fresh condition. There is a good-natured, laid-back atmosphere to the place, and you will find an eclectic mix of people lounging on picnic blankets on the grass outside, or sitting at large shared tables inside. Thriving, convivial conversation is the order of the day amongst the locals, for whom this is very much a meeting place in the best traditions of an old-fashioned pub. The place is happily free of pokies, and the muzak is generally confined to atmospheric jazz. This all adds up to give an atmosphere redolent of two favourite Devonshire pubs, the Double Locks in Exeter and the Bridge at Topsham. Not a bad complement for such a new pub on the other side of the world! Note that they don't open before 4 pm during the week.

BAR OF THE MONTH - January

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for January is The Twisted Hop.

Following Galbraith's win last month, New Zealand's second real ale brew pub is this month's winner. Opened in 2004, nearly a decade after Galbraith's started the ball rolling, the Twisted Hop has been keeping the citizens of Christchurch happy ever since, and setting the standard for other South Island breweries to aspire to. Set in the former industrial Lichfield Lanes area, the Twisted Hop has been somewhat bullied of late by bigger, less stable surrounding brick buildings, safety barricades, and road works as the tram line extension is laid. Within days of last September's earthquake, and the pub's re-opening, regulars could be seen single-mindedly navigating circuitous routes down old alleyways and over piles of rubble to converge upon the Twisted Hop. If anything, the earthquake seems to have shaken the beer clear. At times in the past, there have been problems serving their beer fresh and clear, but in recent months there has been a noticeable and commendable improvement in this area. Aside from the three regular, eminently drinkable, beers (Golding Bitter, Challenger and Twisted Ankle), this past year has seen some outstanding seasonal brews. At the moment, the Beach Bum and IPA are both drinking extremely well. Other favourites from earlier in the year included the excellent winter annual Oatmeal Stout, and the legendary Magnitude 7.1 (pictured above in the Snug, dating from last October) brewed, as some of their other beers are, at the Three Boys Brewery. The Twisted Hop offers exactly what a good pub should: high quality real ale, and a great atmosphere for genial conversation, or quietly doing the crossword over a pint whilst keeping a watchful eye on the brewer at work behind the bar. It can be busy with diners at times (too often disdaining the handpumps!). The upstairs function room and recently opened No.8 room could be better used to seat diners, leaving more space for drinkers to sit in the main bar, rather than having to stand, blocking the cramped approach to the bar. Losing the background muzak - alas ubiquitous inside and outside everywhere in New Zealand - would be an improvement too. These quibbles aside, there's nowhere better to drink in the South Island.

Boon Brothers Joint - Crumpet // Pollux

Boon Brothers Joint - Crumpet  //  Pollux Wine Bar, Manners St, Wellington.

UPDATE: Pollux had a major makeover during 2012, becoming a Boon Brothers Joint - Crumpet. On a visit in September, with promotional advertising being shot, and new signage being mounted, the handpump had been removed. Considering how warm and off the beer usually was, this is probably no bad thing, but the barman assured me that three new handpumps were on their way. We await this development with some trepidation!

This bar, next to the Opera House, keeps a Moa beer on handpump, such as Imperial Stout in winter or Five Hop Winter Ale in summer.

Ye Olde Malthouse on Dodson Street

Ye Olde Malthouse on Dodson Street, Blenheim.

UPDATE: The Dodson Street Bistro re-opened in October 2012 after being closed for several months over the winter for an extensive revamp. In the past they rarely used their handpump other than in the depths of winter. Reports on whether it has been retained and put to use would be appreciated.

One of the Renaissance Brewery's beers (which is next door) may be on handpump.