Thirteen months ago, it didn't seem like there would be any prospect of drinking the Twisted Hop beers for a very long time, with the brewery off limits in Christchurch's ghost town of a city centre. Virtually all the buildings in Poplar Lane have now been demolished, with the Twisted Hop's building remaining forlorn, and awaiting its own terminal fate. They are part of the estimated 80% of city centre buildings that have been or will soon be demolished following the devastating earthquakes. Despite many obstacles, the Twisted Hop team have remained true to their word: they have been brewing again for several months, their beers are available in a handful of local establishments, and plans to open two new Twisted Hop pubs are well advanced. The Ferry Road, Woolston building is nearing completion, and scheduled to open by the end of the year. It's a bit of a cheat to name the brewery in Wigram as 'Real Ale Bar of the Month', since you can't drink there. On the other hand, it would be a real injustice to ignore it, since you won't get real ale tapped straight from the cask into a bottle in front of your eyes anywhere else in the country. And the beer is oustandingly good too! Open on Fridays from 2-7 pm, the brewery shop is a quiet oasis for real ale lovers. Unless at a crucially delicate stage in the brewing process, you are sure to get an opportunity to chat to the brewers at work and to learn about the plans for the Twisted Hop's rebirth. Casks of the old favourites are conditioning, and await tapping. The Golding Bitter on the shop's opening night in April was spectacular, and the newest brew, Hopback (5.8%) is a sublime example of intensely restrained hoppiness, that some of NZ's less subtle new world, APA-style brewers would do well to sample. It's great to see the Twisted Hop recovering so well. It promises to be even better than before, and thoroughly deserves the local support it is getting - and more! The brewery shop can be hard to find, so see the map below. See also The Twisted Hop website for regular updates.
