Heading to New Zealand in a couple weeks and staying for a month. The wife and I will be travelling around the country. Are there any breweries/brewpubs that I should be sure to hit? Other distro beers that I wont be seeing in the US around? Any help and guidance is appreciated. Also plan on throwing some US beers in the luggage for gifting/trading etc. If there is anything that is pretty available in the US that people in New Zealand would be excited to try?
I was down in NZ this spring and there’s a booming beer scene and hops are everywhere, you’re going to have fun. Wellington had lots going on, stop by HashigoZake for what’s most likely the best beer list in the country, I had a good time at The Malthouse too, my biggest regret was not spending more time in Wellington pub crawling.
Make sure you go to/try Liberty, Epic, Tuatara, 8 Wired, Garage Project and Yeastie Boys. They all make and are capable of making great stuff. I think NZ will mostly have a lot of NZ stuff but you might find some interesting European things like De Molens etc. around I'm sure they'd enjoy anything barrel aged or any fresh IPAs. They probably have access to legit/grey stuff from some of the larger US breweries (SN/Stone/Alesmith/DFH/Green Flash) but I'm sure if you bring anything local and fresh it will be well received.
This thread may assist: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/just-moved-to-new-zealand-from-philly.68503/
All great information. Thanks for the help and input. Definitely going to spend some quality time in Wellington
Do drop in and say hi. We're open seven days, and if you stop by during the week we'll be busy brewing. Just ask for Pete, Jos or Ian and we'll give you a tour. For Wellington, check out http://craftbeercapital.com/ to see what events or beers are pouring. Marchfest in Nelson is well worth a visit and you're very close to overlapping with the hop harvest as well!
Thanks @GarageProject we will definitely be stopping by when we are around. Looking forward to experiencing your beer scene
