It is early in the year, but this bar mat from Sawmill Brewery will be tough to beat in the annual “best bar mat I’ve seen this year” contest I hold in my head. As seen at The Brewers Co-operative in Auckland. I want a place like the co-op within walking distance of our house in Colorado.
These are a few of the taps at Dr. Rudi’s rooftop bar in Auckland, a busy place with plenty of outdoor space and views of Viaduct Harbour.
But what made the spot special for me is the Wi-Fi password: smoothcone.
That’s because Dr. Rudi is a hop first released in 1976 and called Super Alpha. Her name was changed to Dr. Rudi in 2012.
Smooth Cone is her mother.
What do you do when you arrive in a new city, luggage in hand, and your accommodations will not be available until hours later? Thursday (Wednesday back in Colorado) our friend Brayden Owlinson at Fork & Brewer in Wellington was nice enough to store our bags while we headed to Zealandia.
And later we drank beer together and met more brewers.
Motueka, New Zealand
“These are my moisture meter,” said Brent McGlashen, a fifth generation hop grower, well into a day last week punctuated with frequent grabbing, breaking and smelling of freshly picked hops being kilned on one of the Mac Hops farms.
Queenstown, New Zealand