My (now) wife and I spent two weeks (thanks, American vacation durations) in NZ the second half of November getting married and driving all over the country. We did the requisite wine tasting, but one part of travel that I really love is checking out the local beer scene. As much as possible I popped into pubs and beer stores to try and pick stuff up. Being on vacation I was pretty much blindly guessing, but I came across some tasty stuff. I enjoyed some mixpacks from Wanaka Beerworks, and (as a hophead) the Epic Armageddon IPA really impressed me. As someone who really enjoys a nice, peaty scotch, the Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude caught my attention as well. At any rate, there is a "Beers of the World" store near me that I visit a couple times a year and seems to have pretty good representation of brews from across the globe. I know they have a NZ section. Now that I'm stateside, are there any recommendations for beers that I missed that I should see if they have in stock in case I get nostalgic? Thanks!
8 Wired, Epic, Liberty City, Yeastie Boys. They are probably the best four. I would expect none of them are exported to the US. Renaissance makes good beer, so does Tuatara. I would say there is better beer available in the US though.
http://www.binnys.com/beer#/?page=1&selections=278&psize=3 I know whats its like to miss it. Moa is one of the most prevalent brands that I have seen. There are also alot of brewers who use NZ hops.
Awesome, thanks for the responses! I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled for these suggestions. Cheers!
I can attest to seeing these at my local store in Saint Louis. I don't personally trust the freshness on hoppy NZ beers, but have had success with the cellarable varieties.
