New Kids on the Block

One of the things that really makes my week, even more so than popping the crown off a new batch of my own beer, is discovering a new brewery. Over the weekend I had the pleasure of sampling something completely new from Christchurch's latest, the Three Boys Brewery. I was most impressed with the debut.

Three Boys Brewery, of Woolston, have just recently released three unfiltered beers that cover a wide spectrum of the beer drinking community. There should be something for everyone in their simply named: Wheat, Pils and Porter.

The effervescent Wheat, very much a Belgian wit on the nose, was a deeper gold than its famous Belgian cousin and looks beautiful in the glass with it's lingering, pillowy, white head. Along with the usual citrus and coriander, I also picked up some ginger in the very long spicy finish. The wheat was my pick of a promising bunch, from the batches I've sampled so far.

The Pilsner, quite traditionally Bohemian-styled but with some local ingredients, is bright gold and has a lovely balance of malt and hops. Both the nose and the flavour suggest freshly milled grain, cut grass, and a faint touch of pepper and butterscotch. The drawn-out bitter finish is not for the faint hearted. Neil Miller picked this (at number 3, no less) in his top 10 NZ beers of 2005, a worthy recommendation indeed.

I found the tan-headed Porter, which I had most eagerly anticipated, to still be a bit green - slightly over estery and a spot light in the malt profile - but it did grow on me as it warmed. Give it a little time to warm up and breath, for more of the chocolate malt notes to get through and compliment the woody hops. Being a favoured style of mine, I'll be very interested to see how this one evolves.

Lucky Christchurch residents can sample their new local brews, on tap, at The Twisted Hop, The University of Canterbury Staff Club, or Cousinns Restuarant in Papanui. You may also find a bottle at a couple of other bars in the city, including C1 Espresso, Foam Bar and the Bicycle Thief, or at The Grape Escape and The Village Grape bottle stores.

For the rest of us, north of the smoky city, you can pick up the stylish 500mL bottles from Regional Wines and Spirits in Wellington, New World in Blenheim, or from Three Boys Brewery itself via their website.

Slainte mhath.