Top Picks: The Five Best Craft Breweries in the South Island

Moa Brewing Company – Blenheim

Moa Brewing Company, a symbol of brewing ingenuity and brilliance. Is situated in the heart of Marlborough. With a focus on using locally sourced ingredients and a nod to traditional brewing techniques. This brewery has been proudly serving the neighbourhood since 2003.

The Moa Brewing Company produces a wide variety of beers, including the Moa Original Lager. Reportedly, it has a little hop aroma and a clean, crisp flavour. The Moa Breakfast, a wheat beer cocktail with coffee, is one of their original concoctions.

The environmental consciousness of Moa Brewing Company is what makes it unique. By employing eco-friendly strategies.Such as reusing brewing by-products and using solar energy.They demonstrate their dedication to environmental responsibility while loving to make exceptional beers.

Emerson’s Brewery – Dunedin

Fans of brewing beer from all over the globe rave about Emerson’s Brewery in Dunedin. This brewery has been renowned for its distinctive take on classic hand-crafted beers since its founder, Richard Emerson, opened it in 1992.

Beers made by breweries are a reflection of how seriously they take using only the finest ingredients. The traditional amber ale Bookbinder enchants with its rich malty flavours. While the balanced bitterness and refreshing flavour of Emerson’s Pilsner earn it respect as a flagship beer.

Both classic and innovative brewing processes are on display at Emerson’s Brewery. They strive to provide beer lovers with unique and interesting flavours by releasing limited-edition beers and collaborating with local artisans and brewers from all around the world.

Renaissance Brewing – Blenheim

The inventive and daring beers made by Blenheim’s Renaissance Brewing, which celebrates New Zealand’s ingredients, have garnered praise. Since 2005, this brewery has been making complex beers of great quality.

Tribute Barley Wine is one of their standout products; it is a malty, slightly bitter beer that has won multiple awards. Their Stonecutter Scotch Ale is a perfect example of their skill in producing robust beers, with its subtle smokiness and caramel undertones.

Renaissance Brewing stands apart from the competition by prioritising quality above quantity. Carefully crafted in small amounts, their meticulous attention to detail ensures that every batch is consistently excellent, satisfying beer lovers with every sip.

Garage Project – Wellington

The inventive and creative spirit of the craft beer sector is on full display at Garage Project, a Wellington institution. The three buddies who launched the brewery in 2011 have become famous for their innovative and risk-taking brewing techniques.

The wide variety of beers offered by Garage Project showcases their love for pushing boundaries. Brewery beers like the aromatic and hop-infused. Hāpi Daze pale lager and the fascinating Cabbages & Kings series of wild-fermented beers never fail to amaze and please beer aficionados.

A visit to the taproom and the attention to detail in the label designs take these beers to the next level. Which are already excellent.

Tuatara Brewing – Paraparaumu

In Paraparaumu, you might find the Tuatara Blending Organization, which puts a cutting edge wind on dated fermenting techniques. This brewery has been in activity beginning around 2000, drawing inspiration from the remarkable local fixings and different verdure of New Zealand.

Its gentle harshness and unpretentious tropical notes come from bounces filled in New Zealand. One illustration of the brewery’s ability to integrate provincial flavors is the Sauvinova IPA.

Tuatara Fermenting stands apart from the group thanks to its devotion to manageability and its association in the neighborhood local area. This is only the beginning of their dedication to producing premium beer.Which is the reason they reuse a great deal and reward neighbourhood causes.

Conclusion

The South Island craftsman breweries of New Zealand are eminent for their particular combination of custom, inventiveness, and advancement. The included breweries, from Moa Preparing Organization’s eco-cognizance to Carport Venture’s innovative energy. Those looking for the zenith of specialty brew culture and a lager sweetheart’s heaven should visit the South Island. The five bottling works that took care of business resemble unshakable groundworks. They continue stretching the limits and making lager that brew aficionados can’t get enough of. I hope you like reading”The Five Best Craft Breweries in the South Island”

The post The Five Best Craft Breweries in the South Island appeared first on BackPack Beliefs.

Besides Reims being a very charming city, it’s also famous for it’s liquid gold: Champagne. Reims is located on the northern border of the Champagne-area in France, and a lot of really old and famous champagneries have their cellars close to the city center. Reims was the first stop on our big hitchhiking trip (that’s a story for another time!).

There are a lot of Champagneries to chose from and they all have their pro’s and cons. Since it is hard, if not impossible, to visit all of them, here’s a list of three very different yet all very interesting Champagne houses.

Lanson: The personal approach.

We start off with our favourite and first one we visited: Lanson. Neither of us had ever heard of the house before, and usually we tend to like smaller family ownes businesses. Apparently Lanson is not that unknown or small but forgive our ignorance. We had a lot to learn about Champagne!

The majestic front of the Lanson Champagne cellars

Arriving there we were warmly greeted by Marie-Julie, who asked us to wait in their reception room because there were more people coming on the guided tour. The other people didn’t show so we had a private tour, yay!

The “waiting area” was richly decorated and gave us something to look at while we waited.

The tour started with a little bit of history of the Lanson family and basic knowledge about Champagne. We then got guided to the small private vineyard where the best of the best single vineyard Blanc de Blancs is made from. Underneath this vineyard are the cellars. The Lanson cellars are the only ones which are located above ground level, little bit of a unicum for cellars right?

The private vineyard in the heart of the city. Our days of working on vineyards in Australia popped right back into our memories!

After viewing the cellars and learning about the Champagne-making process you get to the best part: tasting the Champagne! During the tasting Marie-Julie went over all the tasting notes and differences in Champagne which was really nice and educational. She also stayed to chat some more about Champagnes and her personal preferences. Apparently Lanson is the official supplier of Wimbledon since a couple dozen of years and are one of the national exporters of Great Britain. Not as small and unknown as we thought!

Can you imagine there are over 70 000 bottles of Champagne right in this photo?!

All by all this one would definitely be the highest on the list in overall experience.

The final, and best bit, of the tour: the tasting!

Practical: – Tour will take about 1,5 hour, included tasting. – Tour and tasting of one glass Champagne: €20 – Tour and tasting of two glasses: €25

– Tour and tasting of two glasses: €30

Taittinger: The oldest cellars

Taittinger, one of the most famous champagne houses, was also high on our list. Upon entering the building, the welcome wasn’t as warm as at Lanson, but more formal and distant.

The Champagne house of Taittinger is more subtle and less flashy than the other ones.

You start of with a promotional video about Taittinger. It tells you about the history of the house and also of Champagne in general. That’s what we liked about it. The owners did not only push their own brand but also promoted Champagne in general to be protected and known in the world.

These are all the sizes Champagne bottles come in. The biggest ones, the Balthazar (12 litres) and the Nabuchadnezzar (15 litres) are mostly used by rich eastern Europeans to fill up their swimming pool!

Afterwards you walk down a very small winding staircase that seems to go on forever to go down to the basement. They still use the original cellars of an 10th century abbey, and they were the most beautiful of them all. The abbey itself got bombed during the first war but the cellars are still all intact! It is insane how old they are! Our guide, a young student from Paris, was really informative and explained the whole process very clearly. Since it was an English tour but there were also French people, who’s English wasn’t that good, he took the time to translate in between.

The old staircase of the medieval abbey. Just the idea of being in a cellar that old is amazing!

The amazing thing about walking there, is that you find “graffiti”on the walls. The cellars of all Champagne houses were used during World War one and two as bomb shelters so you find things written on the walls. In certain area’s the “graffiti”is even older! The end of the tour goes in an 8th century stone mine were you can still see the hole were they transported the stone up through.

This “graffiti” can be traced back to the 10th century! Apparently self portraits were the thing back then!

The tasting itself was a bit disappointing. They pour you a glass but that’s it and you then just kind of stand there. No explanation, no tasting notes, not really any conversation except for short answers on your questions.

Practical: – The tour takes about 30 to 45 minutes, not including the tasting afterwards – Tour and tasting of one glass champagne: €19

– Tour and tasting of two glasses: €30

Pommery-Vrancken: The most modern!

As one of the biggest ones (Pommery bought Vrancken because they were almost financially ruined) it is a mass produced experience. The tour groups are pretty big and the places usually do fill up so book in time!

Vrancken used to be independent but not anymore. In the back you can see Villa Demoiselle.

As for the tour, you get a general explanation about the whole process. It is not very personal since you’re in a big group. The tour guide did leave room for questions so if you are interested you could always ask for more information.

Doesn’t this castle look like it is taken straight out of a fairytale?!

The most outstanding thing was the art everywhere. The cellar has art work in every corner which gives the place a modern atmosphere. If you are looking for a typical old looking cellar, skip this one. Some like it, some don’t. Also the building itself seems to come straight out of a fairy tale. It is definitely the most impressive architecture we saw!

The bright colours really liven up the place and distinguish the property from the other Champagne houses!

On the other side of the road you have the Vrancken mansion, called Villa Demoiselle. Vrancken still makes Champagne but in small numbers. His house is now turned into a museum. You can buy combined tickets for a tour, tasting and the entrance to the house!

Practical: – The tour takes about one hour, included tasting. – One glass tasting option and tour: €20 – two glasses: €30

– Guided tour of Villa Demoiselle (only in French) including glass of Champagne: €20

BONUS: G.H. Martel&co: The budget option

The cellars of Martel are located in one of the small villages around Reims, you can’t do a cellar tour at the moment, but keep an eye on their website, this might change! A little bit disappointing but after three tours, we already knew the gist of it.

The nameplate on the front has had it’s best time a long while ago.

They do, however, have tastings were you can choose a selection of Champagnes you would like to try. It is also the cheapest tasting you can find in Reims! The young girl who explained the tasting accompanied us to the tasting room. The decor is very very old fashioned but it had his charm.

The courtyard is small but oh so charming and cute!

Every Champagne got presented and explained. It was a short explanation each time but she didn’t mind answering questions. She did leave the room after each explanation, which was a bit awkward since we sat there alone in a very quiet room for 10 minutes every time. Their Champagnes are nice but nothing special but for the prices we paid it was definitely worth it!

Very old fashioned but in a way it fits with Champagne!

If you’re on a budget and just want to taste some champagne, this is a good place to go. Just ask loads of questions!

Practical: Since the guided tour wasn’t possible we are not sure how long this will take. – The tasting of three glasses: €13 (house champagne, meaning the standard one)

– The luxury tasting of three glasses: €20

As you see, all Champagne houses are different, which means there’s something for everyone! 

Let us know which champagne experience was your favourite in the comments!

FacebookTwitterPinterestInstagram Archives Select Month July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 January 2019 December 2018 May 2018 April 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016

The post Top 3 Champagne Cellars in Reims That You Must Visit appeared first on BackPack Beliefs.

Enjoying Port while the sun goes down! That is what Porto  is about!

The grapes are not grown in Porto itself but in the Douro valley, about an hour to the East. The Port wine is aged in the caves (cellars) in Porto though, so you can visit the Port Caves! If you read any of our blog posts before you know we love food and drinks, so of course we went on a Port Wine tasting splurge!!

First off all, a lot of the Port caves aren’t really friendly or open to people coming in just for tastings. We guess since there are a lot of tourists who don’t buy anything and just try to score free drinks, their mentality has changed into an unwelcoming one. This is only the general idea but you of course there are exceptions! When you’re on a hunt for tours and tastings, dress to impress and they’ll be more likely to offer you a tasting. Booking online is also a good idea since most of them only have tours certain times of the day.

This map shows the Douro valley on the right and Porto on the left. Since Port is downstream and seabound it is easy to transport it here and then export it.

Second: If you have the time, visit the Douro Valley, where the grapes are grown and pressed. It is a beautiful place only about an hour east of Porto.

1. Quinta des Orvos.

You’ll see a lot of the Port houses called: Quinta.. This actually just means farm! So this one is called farm of the ravens.

This is the first cave we did and most definitely our favorite one. Our guide (Isabella) was very energetic, passionate and fast but open for questions and explained everything with a sense of humor. Next to Portuguese and English she also spoke Spanish and Dutch. You start of with a short movie about the Douro valley and the history of the Port houses, supported by explanations of the guide. She then shows you the oak kegs in the Cave and explains the aging process and different styles of Port. You end the tour tasting 3-4 different Port wines and talk about the tasting notes.

Port wines change colour while aging. The two on the left or white Ports and the three on the right are red ones. They age from left to right so white Port becomes more dark and visa versa.

The groups are a bit smaller so this tour felt a lot more personal than other. We also like smaller groups because there’s more time and space for questions and extra information.

Our very passionate guide Isabelle explaining the different Ports to us.

Not only was it very interesting to hear the whole process explained., Isabella was also very passionate about Port wine. The tour will cost you €5 but that is deducted if you buy a bottle there. We ended up buying a nice LBV (Late bottled vintage) from the year we first met (very romantic, we know).

2. Calem Port Caves

This keg is actually so big it could fit an entire Mini Cooper in there!

When entering the building to ask for a tour, we were greeted with so much hospitality we already loved it ! The tour and tastings are 10 euro, this includes a 30 minute self guided tour through their “museum”, a 20 minute guided tour through their cellars and a tasting of 2 different Ports. You could also opt to taste three different Port wines or pair them with chocolate.

A very important step in every process when you are making food or drinks!

Their museum is pretty amazing. It guides you through the whole process starting from the vineyards to into your glass. Since it is self guided you can take your time and see what you want to see. They even have a bottle of 1861 on display!

The cave-tour itself guides you past the big kegs in their cellar. Some of them you can actually fit a small car in! Our tour guide wasn’t very good though. She rushed through the whole thing and sighed at least 20 times in the same amount of minutes. During the tasting, she rambled through some information and then just left! It was a shame because everything else about this Port house was beautiful and very well presented. Maybe we just got unlucky with our guide.

Our guide who clearly, 10 minutes into the tour, was already done with it. Still nice to know that those kegs actually hold Port and about 7000 litres of it!

If you have never heard a Fado concert (the traditional Portuguese music) definitely join in in their unique experience. It combines the two most typical things about Porto: Port Wine and Fado!

The best part of every tour: the tasting! We had a white 4 year old Port and the special reserve one.

3. Kopke

We weren’t sure to include this Port house at first, but since it’s THE oldest one in Porto, you shouldn’t skip it. Here’s what happened to us though. Outside, it said they do tastings paired with chocolate (SCORE!) so naturally we went in. Once inside they didn’t really give us any explanation, except for a snarky answer that ‘all tastings are with chocolate’ when I asked how the tastings worked. The ladies then almost threw a book in our hands with the different tasting options. They then started talking to each other and laughing in Portuguese, without any explanation about the different options. Safe to say we just put down the brochure and left. It had been a really long time since people were this rude to us.

These oak kegs are made new. After a couple of decades they are shipped to Scotland to age Whiskey. There last location is the Caribbean to age rum!

While writing this blog, we did some more research on Kopke and on experiences of others. Maybe we just had very unfriendly staff that day,

As the oldest Port houses of Porto, you shouldn’t skip this one! They don’t offer any tours they do offer tastings and food pairings like chocolate. They are quite famouse for their vintage and aged tawny Ports. Don’t let the small entrance, or the unfriendly welcome scare you away. After choosing your tasting you will be led to the upstairs lounge where you can enjoy in all peace and quit.

4. Cave Vasconcellos

If you read up on Vasconcellos, you will noticed that their reviews all say that the pressure on buying something if you taste is pretty high. Even getting in, seemed hard for a lot of people. Although they have a lot of bad reviews, all reviews still say that their Port is amazing and worth going in, so we gave it a go.

These are the old boats that were used to transport the “grapejuice”to Port where it is aged in the cellars.

At the door we got stopped by a men directly. When asked if they did any tastings, he replied: You can taste the bottle when you buy! Ofcourse this was not on our list because we were flying and didn’t have any checked luggage. Since that they we weren’t into having a discussion we just left.

When visiting them we would suggest being dressed nicely and just telling them that you are interested in buying a bottle. We tasted some of their Port in a different venue and we must admit, it is quite amazing!

You can also book private tastings for a small group online. So if you want to try the Port but are not interested in buying, this would be the way to go.

5. Burmester

This small Port house is hidden away next to the bridge. We almost didn’t even see it till the last day when we passed. The guide Vincent definetly knew what he wass talking about and made it clear and easy for everyone to understand. The fun thing of a smaller Port house is the more personal approach in tastings. You can actually talk to them about the Port and tasting notes.

So little and hidden you don’t even properly see it, if you don’t know where to look!

Their point of focus is less on selling and more on giving you a good experience, which is a nice change to all other Port caves we visited. This leaves a lot of room for unworried enjoying and tasting Port.

Bonus: Porto Cruz

Porto Cruz definetly has a more modern touch to the whole building than the other houses that are more typical.

Since they don’t exactly do tastings, you get a ticket to get a small sip of Port from them when you book a boat tour but this is without explanation and more like factory work, they do not really belong in this list. Still it is worth checking them out. Their second and third floor have a small museum where you can still learn about how Port is made and where it comes from. The fourth floor they have a fancy looking restaurant with a view over the other side of Porto. And the top is a 360 degrees view of the whole of Porto. Here you can enjoy th view, for free!, or with a drink. We had a nice Port of them and chatted up the bartender who seemed to know his Ports. When the sun is out, it is one of the best places to chill

The amazing view from up the rooftop bar at Porto Cruz. Go there during the golden hour for amazing views over the Douro and city!

These are definitely the must see Port houses in Porto! Hopefully this will get you started. For more travel tips about Porto, we’ve got a cityguide of Porto coming very soon! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more amazing travel advice!

.

The post Porto’s Top 5 Port Caves: A Guide for Wine Lovers appeared first on BackPack Beliefs.

Just how I like the tap in a brew bar, nice and shiny and lots of them!

Like food, it is impossible to say which brewery is the absolute best. Flavours are subjective to the person tasting.

“Des Gouts et des couleurs, on ne discute pas.”

This expression, literally means that flavours and colours are personal so it has no use in making someone else see you’re ‘right’. So without further ado, here’s my personal list. One that will hopefully inspire you to try some new beers!

1. Mikes Brewery – New Plymouth

As one of the oldest craft breweries in New Zealand, Mikes brewery definitely defends their name. With the new opening of their bistro and bar in the heart of New Plymouth, it looks like they want to play on a bigger scale. To be honest, I never tried their core range. When visiting the bistro they had so many dark beers, and each and every one of them tasted epic. So I had to throw my tradition of tasting the core range away and just went for those!

Mikes has a taproom north of New Plymouth in Urenui. Call ahead to see if it is open. We drove out from New Plymouth to arrive at a closed venue, to then drive back to the bistro and bar in New Plymouth to try the beers. Yes, we were very determined!

2. Double Vision Brewing – Miramar, Wellington

These four engineers have been brewing for a while as a nomad brewery, but almost a year ago they settled down in Miramar. With so many craft breweries in the center of Wellington, you might ask yourself why go out of your way to one of the suburbs to try craft beer? Well, very simply put: their whole range is amazing! They don’t have the typical pilsner, lager, pale ale, IPA,.. core range but make beers they love. And they do it well! There is not a single beer on their list that I would not order at a bar! On top of that their brewery/tasting room has different food trucks around during the evenings, so you will find some definite amazing bites too. Their Red Rascal Red IPA was the first Red IPA I loved and that got me more interested in Red IPA’s in general.

I love the fact that most small breweries have their taproom/tasting room in their actual brewery. Nothing beats drinking a beer, fresh from the source!

3. Sunshine brewery – Gisborne

Sunny Gisborne surprised us with this gem of a brewery. Actually, this is one of the first proper breweries I visited in New Zealand and the one that got us hooked to great beer. They are mostly known for doing a vast and great range of IPA’s and Pale Ales but they also brew some epic dark beers. Try the Black Magic stout of the core range or visit the brewery to try their seasonal ones like a triple IPA or the Czar Bomb Russian Imperial Stout. Aside from their beers, they have a pizza food truck outside and what is better than pizza and beer?

Beer and pizza, the unbeatable recipe for a good night! On this tasting tray the Czar bomb and the Triple IPA, which is an amazing drop! Great people working at the venue too.

4. Alibi brewing – Waiheke Island

After going to another brewery on Waiheke Island and not being impressed at all, my hopes for finding great craft brews on Waiheke Island dropped to zero. Alibi brewing convinced me otherwise. I was there around Valentine’s day and they brewed this voluptuous hazy fruit NEIPA special which was just an epic coming together of so many flavours. Same goes for the Sawa Sawa Passionfruit and Yuzu Gose. I know you would most likely visit Waiheke Island for the wines but do not skip this brewery, which is conveniently located in a vineyard, so you get the best of both worlds!

Beer and a view! At Alibi brewing you get both. Sunshine and good beer, what more can we wish for?

5. The Theoretical Brewer – New Plymouth

This chemical engineer started out like so many other brewers in his garage with a homebrew kit and now has a core range of four beers with a lot of more experimental beers on the side too. He approaches the beers from a more scientific level, which is very interesting when visiting the taproom as he shows you a whole different side to the brewing process. We visited at the end of January, and he now has a new taproom where you can try the beers. Personally, I can see this brewery growing a lot in the next few years. Visit them as soon as possible to get that personal treatment of a starting brewery!

The taproom has a great range of beers on tap so you can taste the beers before filling up your rigger from. The right photo shows my catch of the day.

Writing this list already makes me miss New Zealand beers. It is gonna be hard being back in Belgium and not being able to taste amazing,  innovative and creative beers like these. Well, I can’t complain too much, since there’ll be Belgian beers around! If you want more ideas about which New Zealand beers to drink or see which beers are available all over the world, follow me on Instagram at Beer_Diary_Today !

The post Discovering the Top Five Craft Breweries in New Zealand’s North Island appeared first on BackPack Beliefs.