BAR OF THE MONTH - June

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

It's a little over a year since The Brewery last received honourable mention in these pages. Much has happened at Cassels and in Christchurch since that time. Work continues apace on the Tannery arcade conversion (see photo above). Gustav's, Cassels new wine bar opened this week, marking the second anniversary of The Brewery (bar rather than lower-case brewery!) opening. Gustav's outstanding fitout, together with its two handpumps, will receive further attention here in the near future but, for now, let's raise a glass to Alasdair Cassels and his team for the fine work they are doing in making Christchurch a better place after nearly three years of difficult times. Admittedly, there have been problems with beer quality control over recent months, although most of the beer pulled from the handpumps has been of respectable quality. A rapidly expanding brewery was always going to have challenges, especially after the astonishingly high quality of its beer in its first year of operation. Let's hope that its third year sees a return to its incomparable best.

BAR OF THE MONTH - April

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

There are fittingly grand plans to expand both the brewery's capacity, and the whole Tannery complex in the coming months. So long as it doesn't affect the quality of the beer, then no one in Christchurch will be complaining. The Brewery (as a venue) still hasn't reached its first birthday, but it has arguably already reached the peaks set by Galbraith's, and now has a fair claim to be New Zealand's best pub (for the quality of its beer - what else really matters in a pub?). The present batch of Best Bitter is truly outstanding, a remarkably fresh and drinkable beer, that any discerning drinker would travel some distance to sample. The odd barrel hasn't been perfect, but most have been exemplary. Such is its popularity that each barrel rarely lasts much longer than a day. Just how it should be! The award-winning Milk Stout is another beer that even has hardened beer enthusiasts drooling at the prospect of a pint being pulled. Much to their credit, Cassels now have six different beers on their handpumps. One of these is often a guest, such as Galbraith's, Townshend or, local brewery, Golden Eagle. Those out of touch with the brewing situation in Christchurch will be glad to hear that microbreweries producing real ale are abounding at the moment. Christchurch might, some time ago, have laid claim to the title of NZ's real ale capital. Can either Auckland or Nelson match it at the moment? The Twisted Hop Brewery is also back up and running out at Wigram. It's taking a while to get either of their new pubs under way, but one can visit their brewery and take away a 2 litre PET bottle of one of the old favourites tapped straight from the cask. I would have to say that the Golding Bitter on their opening night earlier this month was better than it had ever been, and was truly memorable in the best possible way! Back to the Cassels Brewery, though. The other Cassels beers currently on handpump include Big Ale Barley Wine (10.0%), an intense alcoholic, vinuous, smooth beer, which is a beautiful clear dark amber colour, and enough is always pulled through the pipes if it hasn't been poured for a little while to ensure that your glass doesn't include stale, warm beer. Alongside this are The Alchemist (4.6%), a golden ale that started out disappointingly cloudy rather than golden, but has improved immeasurably as the batch has aged, and Easterly Draught (4.3%), the much lamented Woolston Bitter's slightly stronger and sweeter replacement.

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 - 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.

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: