BAR OF THE MONTH - December

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for December is Smash Palace, Christchurch.

Smash Palace is the 'pop-up' reincarnation of Goodbye Blue Monday, which used to sit in Poplar Lane opposite the Twisted Hop before the earthquakes. The bar is a converted bus, and will be on the move sometime in the new year when building starts on its current temporary site. Even on a wet winter's night the outside seating is cosy and inviting, since enough of it is covered and heated. They showcase local beers, happily including a couple of handpumps which draw beer up from a refrigerated area beneath the bar. Despite the beer generally coming from bags, it is usually served in respectable condition, and has a relatively good turnover.

BAR OF THE MONTH - October

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

It's a couple of years since Pomeroy's last received honourable mention in these pages. During this time the building has gone through a period of repair, additional strengthening, and some minor internal rearrangement. The new brewery, Beer Baroness run by Ava Wilson, has also opened on site. Its excellent beers are found with increasing frequency in bars around the city, and as far south as the likes of The Portsider in Port Chalmers. In many cases the beer is happily dispensed by handpump without artificial carbonation. In Pomeroy's itself, three handpumps are now to be found in almost continuous operation. Unfortunately the beer does tend to come from bags, but it still tastes fresh and is (generally) at an appropriate temperature. It's rarely cloudy, presumably indicating that the beer is bright. It's certainly far more flavoursome, aromatic and drinkable than the wide array of gassy beers on offer.

BAR OF THE MONTH - August

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for August is The Woolston Hop.

The Twisted Hop at Woolston is nearing its first birthday celebrations, and finds itself confidently leading the real ale revival in Christchurch. The Hop's beers are consistently the best in the city, and a convivial atmosphere and warm welcome are always guaranteed by the staff, who are passionate about their beer. In addition to the excellent standard beers (which will be well-remembered by regulars from the days in Poplar Lane), a number of special brews have been produced recently, and they gladly showcase other local brewers. No beer lover's tour of NZ would be complete without a visit to the Twisted Hop.

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 Cassels & Sons CBD Bar, Christchurch.

Since opening eight months ago, Cassels CBD Bar has quickly become established as one of Christchurch's best bars. Of course, there's not a lot of competition at the moment, but they set high standards in terms of the quality of their building and its fittings, the warm welcome and friendly atmosphere and, most crucially, the quality of their beer. It is true to say that Cassels beers are not of the same exquisitely high standard that they were a year ago, but they have settled back to consistently drinkable quality after going through a temporary bad patch six months ago. The four handpumps get a good workout, with barrels rarely staying on for more than a day or two. Unfortunately, limited cellar space means that barrels aren't always allowed to condition and settle for as long as would be ideal, and sometimes the beer is even pumped from bags (brought fresh from the brewery at Woolston).

Smash Palace, Christchurch

Smash Palace, Corner of Victoria St and Bealey Ave, Christchurch.

See also BAR OF THE MONTH - December 2013.

Smash Palace is one of Christchurch's ubiquitous 'pop-up' bars, and has been running, out of a decommissioned bus, for nearly a year now. They have two handpumps, with beers from the likes of Cassels pulled through 'from the bag'.

BAR OF THE MONTH - March

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for March is The Woolston Hop.

In the five months since opening in Woolston, The Twisted Hop has swiftly reclaimed its spot as Christchurch's premier purveyor of real ale. They had a rough patch shortly after opening due to a problem at the brewery, but they took the sensible option of pouring the beer down the drain, and have worked hard ever since to ensure that their customers leave with a positive experience. The welcoming and knowledgeable bar staff know their beer, and they are always ready to chat about it. As well as the usual beers (from which the Golding Bitter has been a particular stand-out recently), there have been some small-batch specials such as the Skullbuggery Double IPA, tastings of Hopback IPA with different hops, and one (of the twelve) handpumps often has a guest offering from the likes of Raindogs and Golden Eagle. Beer lovers on the west of the city will be disappointed to hear that the brewery shop at Wigram is no longer open on Friday evenings, but the staff at The Woolston Hop will happily fill take-away riggers of ale. The Lincoln Hop (which will also contain the original Twisted Hop's brewing equipment) is on track for opening later this year.

BAR OF THE MONTH - February

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for February is Volstead.

In the immediate aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake a couple of years ago, friends and neighbours met in each other's homes and garages to drink and socialise. Where else were they to go? All the familiar drinking venues had collapsed or were closed and off limits. Volstead, in a small converted industrial unit just off Riccarton Road, has been a wonderful continuation of this spirit over the last year and a half. Ostensibly inspired by the American prohibition-era speakeasy, Volstead is happily different to the other soulless, bland and tacky theme bars in the area. Its spartan appearance, complete with mismatching furniture which really does look like is has come out of a skip may not be to everyone's taste, but if you're looking for a laidback place where beer and amiable conversation rule, then Volstead should not disappoint. On summer evenings, the huge main door is completely opened up, leaving happy drinkers to spill out into the front courtyard area, enjoying the last of the day's sun. In winter, it can be a little chillier inside, but at least that ensures the beer does not get too warm. Early demand saw handpulled beer feature strongly, and there are now five handpumps. Unfortunately, at this stage all the handpumps are connected to bags of beer, but the staff go to trouble to ensure the beer pulled through is fresh, close to the correct temperature of about 12 °C, and not unduly cloudy. The beer is usually pretty good, and it's revealing to drink some of the unfiltered and unpasteurised beers that they dispense by handpump, comparing them to identical beers pushed up to the bar and impregnated by artificial carbonation in other bars. It would be great to see Volstead going the final step of installing a small refrigerated room behind the brick bar and tapping beer direct from the cask! Beers on handpump are likely to come from breweries such as Twisted Hop, Cassels, Townshend, Four Avenues, Golden Eagle and Yeastie Boys. Keep your eyes open for a microbrewery next door.

BAR OF THE MONTH - October

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for October is The Woolston Hop.

It would seem churlish not to nominate The Woolston Hop as NZ's Real Ale Bar of the Month when its opening a few days ago marked such an agreeable and rightly acclaimed return to normality for Christchurch. The city's recent misfortune with earthquakes is well known and, even as these words are typed, a magnitude 3.6 aftershock not far from Woolston gives long-suffering residents a reminder (as if it were needed!) of what has passed. The industrial concrete of the new Hop is redolent of the old, although the building itself also has a warm homely feel to it already. It would be difficult to heap enough praise on the owners and staff who have struggled to get things up and running again over a tough year and a half, but the enthusiastic response of former regulars already indicates how pleased we are to see the Hop back up and running again. Initial beer quality is encouraging. Truth be told, the best beer available in New Zealand at the moment is tapped straight from the cask at the Twisted Hop brewery in Wigram every Friday, although it remains to be seen how fresh their firkins will remain when trade to the door drops off with Woolston's rise. Hopefully some of Christchurch's outstanding new real ale establishments will realise that handpumps are merely a step along the road towards beer nirvana, and that a foaming pint tapped fresh from the cask is an experience that cannot be bettered. There's another challenge set for this astonishingly adaptable city!

The Twisted Hop, Woolston

The Twisted Hop, Ferry Road, Woolston, Christchurch.

See also BAR OF THE MONTH - August 2013, March 2013 and October 2012.

After a long enforced absence, The Twisted Hop is back up and running in Christchurch. The original buildings in Poplar Lane stand desolate in a wasteland of rubble, sadly destined to suffer the same fate as their neighbours. New premises have been built in Woolston, an area that has unexpectedly become New Zealand's real ale capital hosting, as it does, the Twisted Hop, and the Cassels and Three Boys Breweries. After a euphoric private opening at the weekend, the pub is now formally open, and already acting as a magnet for Christchurch's beer connoisseurs again. Old acquaintances have been reignited, not least with the standard Golding Bitter (3.7%), Challenger (5.0%) and Twisted Ankle (5.9%), each dispensed from three banks of four handpumps (taking the NZ record after surpassing their colleagues' six down the road at Cassels). New friends are to be made with the gloriously hoppy Hopback IPA (5.8%). The Twisted Hop Brewery shop at Wigram remains open on Friday afternoons (only until 6 pm now), and plans are progressing slowly but steadily for The Twisted Hop Lincoln.

BAR OF THE MONTH - August

New Zealand Real Ale Bar of the Month for August is Cassels & Sons CBD Bar, Christchurch.

Cassels Brewery is a real success in Christchurch's recent times. Following extensive earthquake strengthening to one of the city centre's few remaining buildings, Cassels have just opened their second hostelry, the CBD Bar, within a stone's throw of the site of Poplar Lane and The Twisted Hop. This comes as a huge relief to those who live and work in the city, many of whom have become acclimatised to seeing only desolate, half-deconstructed buildings around them, and have forgotten what it is like to be able to enjoy a quiet pint on their own doorstep. Ironically enough, CERA's recently announced plans for the city rebuild would have this building demolished to make way for a rugby stadium. Considering the outrageous proposed desecration of Christchurch's primary symbol, the Anglican Cathedral, by its own bishop, it becomes desperately dispiriting for anyone wishing to preserve a tiny sense of place and history in their city. Sitting in Cassels CBD Bar, surveying the flat expanses of rubble through the wide windows as one looks towards the Port Hills in early spring, with a pint of foaming (or rather, creamy) ale in hand, is one way for us to drown our sorrows. Here we can reflect for a while on the lunacy of the power-crazed (or perhaps just remarkably inept and indifferent) petty bureaucrats who continue unnecessarily to fence off vast swathes of our already-demolished, now sanitized city, or who would tear down the few remaining buildings of any note for their own squalid self-aggrandisement.

Cassels CBD Bar, Madras St, Christchurch

Cassels & Sons Brewery CBD Bar, Madras St, Christchurch.

See also BAR OF THE MONTH - April 2013 and August 2012.

Cassels new CBD bar has opened up in a quality fitout of a fine heritage building on Madras St. Not surprisingly, having opened just a few days ago, it is already proving extremely popular with locals, passing workers, and earthquake tourists doing the round of the CBD red zone cordon. The four handpumps serve Cassels' exemplary beers, presently being delivered daily from the Woolston brewery. Expect to find Best Bitter (4.3%), The Alchemist Golden Ale (4.6%) and Milk Stout (5.2%).

Dark Room, Christchurch

The Dark Room, St Asaph St, Christchurch.

The casual visitor may find the darkness of this establishment presents its difficulties in finding one's way to the bar, and the unsavoury, stale odours are likely to drive said visitor in the opposite direction, but anyone who makes it this far will note four handpumps, dispensing the like of Twisted Hop and Yeastie Boys beers (most likely 'from the bag', alas). Those wishing to imbibe a quiet beer beware: this is a 'live music' venue!

Gorilla Bar, Ferrymead

Gorilla Bar, Waterman Place, Ferrymead, Christchurch.

UPDATE: Gorilla's brief flirtation with hand-pulled beer was an unhappy one, and their handpump has since gone back to the Twisted Hop. The 'craft beers' available are all artificially carbonated.

An excellent tapas menu complemented with a couple of handpumps sets this industrially-sited establishment apart from its neighbours, a Speights 'Ale' House and the (now sole) Winnie Bagoes pizza restaurant. The drizzle of beer squeezed through the sparkler head from the bag beneath the bar is hardly going to entice beer lovers, but it's a small step in the right direction. Breweries such as Cassels and The Twisted Hop, are represented on the two handpumps.

Port Hole, Lyttelton

The Port Hole, London St, Lyttelton, Christchurch.

The Port Hole is a container bar established on the site of Lyttelton's iconic Volcano Cafe and Lava Bar, which was demolished as a result of fatal earthquake damage on February 22nd 2011. There is one handpump serving a beer from a brewery such as Cassels, Three Boys, or The Twisted Hop.

Volstead

Volstead Trading Company Craft Beer and Cocktail Lounge, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch.

See also BAR OF THE MONTH - February 2013.

There are three handpumps serving a regularly changing selection of local ales from the likes of Cassels, The Twisted Hop, Golden Eagle and Raindogs breweries.

BAR OF THE MONTH - June

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

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.

View Larger Map

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 - 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!