Brewery of the Month

ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME...

A pint of beer from a craft brewery!

Introducing the 12 Pints of Christmas. We have selected a special pint for each special day from some of our favourite craft brewers. Collect the individual beer listed on each day. If you get all 12 stamps you'll get a lucky 13th pint free!

We say:

Moa have been making waves, and some pretty tasty drops, in recent times. The iconoclastic brewery is Marlborough based and the brainchild of Josh Scott who's unique approach to brewing beer will be explored, as will their ever-expanding range which have been steady pouring into Pom's lately. Bottle-fermented, barrel aged, and served with a healthy dose of subversive humor, this is Moa's first trip to Pom's and should be educational and entertaining… expect big flavors, and a family of beers that are, "a bit like Brad and Angelina’s with children from all over the place." 

They Say:

Moa beer is the beer that comes from Marlborough, which is nice, because mostly Marlborough just makes wine, which is a bit boring. Moa uses the same deep bore water locals use to grow grapes and put out house fires.

Moa Beer is also made the way beer used to be made before everyone started making it differently.

So if somehow someone from 1950 travelled in time to go to the pub and had a Moa today they wouldn’t be surprised by its full bodied taste. This is because Moa beer is made by lots of people and not many machines as opposed to lots of machines and not many people. They would however, be surprised by the cost as Moa is quite expensive and they’d be used to only paying two and six. Whatever that is.

Expect To See On Tap: 

Imperial Stout, 5 Hop, Pale Ale, Methode, McMoa all in limited quantities!

Founded in 2005 by Martin Townshend, this genuine real ale brewery is based in the leafy green heart of the nations hop growing region.

As well as Nelson hops, Townshend's also has access to an aquifier of ancient water to brew with. Dated over 25,000 years old, the water is drawn up from over half a kilometre under the Moutere Valley Clay.

These two ingredients, together with a passion for brewing using traditional methods, have seen the Brewery jump to prominence, winning awards and accolades from the NZ Brewing industry. The Company philosophy is simple. Get the best ingredients, treat them with respect and you'll produce a great product. Martin is a strong advocate of the natural fermentation process, “we brew the way people have done for centuries, we don't 'soda stream' the bubbles back into our brews like most breweries. Our brews have the depth of flavour that only comes from natural fermentation. You just don't get that in processed beer – even the so called natural ones.”

“I actually really believe people are tired of the marketing being more important than the beer. Even in the years we have been brewing I have noticed the change. People are interested in tasting the beer, matching it with their meal, knowing where it is from.”

http://www.townshendbrewery.co.nz/

The Mussel Inn is located in the heart of Golden Bay, North West Nelson region of the South Island of New Zealand. A two hour drive from Nelson, over the Takaka hill, through the township of Takaka and on another 17 kms towards Collingwood  you will find yourself in Onekaka. Keep your eyes peeled, for the Mussel Inn is very subtly sign posted but can often be recognised by the many cars parked on the roadside - especially on a busy night.

They also produce all our own beers, ales, ciders soft drinks and occasional house wines in a small brewery located adjacent to the Mussel Inn, their flagship beer is the Captain Cooker Manuka Beer, a red brown beer flavoured with the freshly picked tips of the Manuka tree.

The brewery is located adjacent to the Mussel Inn in a small purpose built building built in the winter of 1995. The brew length is 12 hecto litres (1200 L) - a fairly standard size for most micro breweries.

The main ingredient for our beers – the water – comes from a small stream in the hills behind the Mussel Inn – bush filtered and low in dissolved minerals. The hops we use are locally grown organic varieties with a couple of special brews being made from our own hops which grow around the front of the Mussel Inn. For bittering we mainly use Pacific Gem followed by either NZ Hallatau or Riwaka (Saaz D) for aroma. Our organic pale malt which makes up the bulk of the grist is grown and malted in Canterbury by Gladfield Malts. Until such time as someone in NZ starts producing them, the small quantities of ‘coloured’ malts we use are imported from Australia and the UK.

All of our beers are produced in the traditional way, using a gravitational system in the brewing process. We use a straight infusion mash and a gas fired kettle. Except for our bottle conditioned ales which use various top fermenting ale yeasts, a bottom fermenting lager yeast is used in both our lagers and dark beers, fermented at 13°. All beers are unfiltered and are naturally carbonated in the conditioning tanks through  secondary fermentation (no added Co²)

To find out more check out http://www.musselinn.co.nz