Thursday, April 24, 2014

April 24th, 2014

ANZAC & Footy

As Rebecca Black would say, it’s Friday!

With tomorrow being ANZAC day, we have to delay opening till 1pm. In the ANZAC spirit, we’ll be showing the traditional Collingwood vs Essendon match from 4.30pm followed by the Wellington match between St. Kilda and Brisbane.

On tap will be our last keg from Aussie - the brilliant Lobethal Double Hop IPA!

Hopstock

Hopstock is in full swing, and Dale’s Fresh Hop Pale Ale is flowing readily from our taps.

I’m very impressed with the FHPA, it shows off the wet Nelson Sauvin and Waimea hops with a huge perfumey aroma and crazy fruity taste.

It’s popularity means this beer will probably run out on Saturday night, so make sure you get in this weekend!

Beer-y Spirits

It’s been a good week for beer-y spirits. Just in from Nelson is Liquid Alchemy’s ‘Fresh Hop Gin’ - made using freshly picked Motueka hops as a botanical.

They reckon this is a world first, as gins have used hops before, but not wet hops straight from the vine. The aroma from the wet hops is very apparent, and the fruity character comes through very nicely in a gin and tonic.

In other beer-spirit news, Mikkeller has just won a double gold medal for their Rum Cask Distilled Black Whiskey. This is the 18%abv ‘Black’ imperial stout which has been distilled up to 43% and then aged in rum casks.

We just so happen to have both of these beery spirits available over the bar at the moment… Your move...

'Murica Music

Like a lot of our beer, this Saturday’s music act comes all the way from the US.

New York City based guitarist Sam Blakelock is quickly becoming recognised as one of New Zealand’s brightest young musical talents. Blakelock Melds influences of jazz, rock and funk and joins Scott Maynard and Shaun Anderson in the lounge this Saturday. Catch em in the lounge from 10pm this Saturday! For Free!

Release the Monks!

Mikkeller is back for New Release Tuesday with another big ass Belgian ale.

This time it’s Monk’s Elixir, a quadrupel style beer inspired by the monks of Rochefort and Westvleteren. This Belgian beast weighs in at 10% so we’ll only be serving small glasses. It's ranked in the top 20 quadrupels in the world on Ratebeer.com, so make sure you check it out on tap this Tuesday!

Weird & Wonderful De Molen

Our most recent shipment from Dutch brewery De Molen contained some very interesting beers which tended towards the strong, dark, barrel aged or sour variety. In some cases, all of the above.

However, De Molen are known for having 'minimalist' labels. Two foreign words separated by an ampersand doesn't always effectively convey the exciting beer within. So before we stock these new exciting beers, we're holding a tasting to raise the profile of De Molen's latest beers and give people a better idea of the world class beer behind those plain labels.

The tasting is at 6pm on May 14th and costs only $35! We'll be serving EIGHT beers from De Molen ranging from 6.2% - 15.2%. There's only 30 spots available, so check out the lineup and buy tickets at cultbeerstore.co.nz or at the bar!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

April 10th, 2014

We Get Real

We've had hand pumps on the bar almost since we first opened way back in 2009.

Traditionally, the beer served through hand pumps (aka beer engines) comes from a 'cask'. The cask is similar to a keg, but has a hole for a tap, and a hole for a 'spile' (venting peg) which allows air into the cask to replace the volume of the beer.

When a brewer fills a cask, he'll also add a little sugar. This sugar then ferments out in the sealed cask, creating CO2, slightly carbonating the beer - and also forming a yeast sediment in the cask.

This secondary fermentation "in the vessel from which it is served" is what qualifies a beer as a "real ale".

The sediment is where the challenge of serving from a cask lies, but also what makes cask ale special. Casks need to be treated carefully to allow the sediment to settle out, must be kept at the correct temperature and need to be served quickly as the air coming in to the cask spoils the beer in 3-4 days.

A very small number of bars in New Zealand have the equipment, space and expertise to pull off serving properly conditioned "real ale". Thus far, the beer we serve through our pumps has been cask conditioned, but is then transferred off the yeast sediment to a keg or bladder, making serving easier.

Excitingly, some recently acquired equipment means Hashigo Zake can now serve "proper real ale", from a cask, through our hand pumps.

Space issues mean we can only handle one or two casks at a time, so the majority of beer served through the pumps will still be from a keg or bladder. However when you see the "Cask Ale" logo on the pump clip, you can be assured that the beer served is properly cask conditioned.



The first cask through the pumps at HZ will be tapped tomorrow afternoon. Come along and try some cask conditioned Townshend Old House ESB, served the way the the brewer prefers.

Would you like Lactobacillus with that?

Sales for our "Mikkeller Spontan-Beer tasting", aka "DRINK ALL THE SOUR BEERS", aka "A Beer Geek's Dream" have gone even better than expected, meaning less than a quarter of places remain for Wednesday's tasting.

If you'd like to experience all ten Mikkeller Spontanbeers, then get your ticket asap!

Soul Stackin'

Stax of Soul are playing HZ for the first time on Saturday! Come check out their laid back grooves, hard rhythm and blues. Inspired by Stax, Motown and New Orleans sounds of the 60s.

Catch em in the lounge from 10pm this Saturday! For Free!

Ruby Tuesday

This Tuesday come and meet the newest immigrant from the states, fresh off the boat from San Clemente, California:

Left Coast Coral Reef Imperial Red Ale!

This rare seasonal from Left Coast weighs in at a massive 11%! It was kegged in late February, then kept chilled all the way here, so will be tasting super fresh.

According to untappd reviews it's "like an Esb mixed with Imperial Red", but you'll have to come along and taste it to be sure. There's not much, so be here 5pm sharp on Tuesday to get your share!

A Worthy Cause

Last week was Wellington Rape Crisis's annual appeal week, hopefully you saw one of their volunteers out on the street and donated. Our staff decided to support the fundraising efforts of these wonderful Wellingtonians by replacing the tip jar with a donation jar.

Both Yeastie Boys and Kereru pledged to match each dollar donated, meaning the $219.70 collected actually means $659.10 for Wellington Rape Crisis.

Thank you to all who donated, to Kereru & Yeastie Boys for their generous offer, but most of all thank you to the people of Wellington Rape Crisis, for their ongoing service to those in need.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

April 4th, 2014

Fitzy's Back!

We can confidently say that Fitzpatrick's is the best brewery in Tauranga, but it's also one of the best in the country.

Currently their consistently excellent brews are hard to come by outside of Tauranga, mainly due to the tiny size of their brewery (thats their brewery in the picture).

Luckily our wee 'Smart Draft' machine that hangs out by the tap handle wall isn't tied to any brewery - so we can put wee 10L Fitzpatricks kegs through it.

The next pallet of 10L kegs is on its way, and covers Fitzpatrick's diverse range of beers. So look out for:


  • Pale Ale
  • IPA
  • American Brown Ale
  • Imperial Porter
  • Witbier

The Witbier is a brand new beer to the Fitzpatricks lineup, featuring coriander seed and kaffir lime leaf. We'll be tapping the first keg of this beer at 5pm Tuesday, so come on down and try some of Tauranga's finest!

Spontaneous Tasting

For the first few years after Hashigo Zake opened, we held regular, themed tastings of exciting new breweries and styles of beer. These were great ways of introducing people to the entire range of a new brewery or particular type of beer, and proved popular.

However, as Wellington became more and more saturated with great beer, interest in our tastings waned. So sadly we had to put a halt on them.

But now I'm pleased to announce that new imports will allow us to hold at least two tastings in the coming months! Guaranteed to be exciting enough to put a twinkle in the eye of even the most jaded beer geek.

The first of these tastings occurs on April the 16th which we've dubbed the "Mikkeller Spontan-Beer tasting", aka "DRINK ALL THE SOUR BEERS", aka "A Beer Geek's Dream".

I'll be hosting the tasting, in which attendees will be tasting all ten Mikkeller Spontanbeers we have in stock, namely:

  • Spontanale Geuze (base beer for all spontanbeers)
  • SpontanKriek (cherry)
  • SpontanGooseberry
  • SpontanRiesling
  • SpontanRosehip
  • SpontanMandarin
  • SpontanCassis (blackcurrant)
  • SpontanPeach
  • SpontanSeaBuckthorn
  • SpontanSauternes (aged in Sauternes barrels)
This will only set you back $50, a paltry sum compared to the cost of buying a bottle of each. There are limited places due to the rarity of these beers, so grab your ticket here quickly!

Funky Boil Up

The boys of Hi Carb Boil Up are back!

Expect tones of neo soul, jazz, roots, afro beat and funk to flow through the lounge from 10pm this Saturday!

As usual the entertainment is free, but it'd be rude not to have a drink while you listen right?



Needs more Noods

The Ramen Shop guys have been incredibly busy fitting out their new restaurant in Newtown, but have somehow still found time to keep popping up in our little kitchen.

Come support their efforts by grabbing a beer and a bowl tomorrow night anytime from 5pm to 9pm.

P.S: There's a rumour that their Riddiford St restaurant is nearing completion, and will open in the next few weeks :O

Incoming!

Beer Without Borders' latest container from California has just been released by customs!

So over the next week we'll be filling the gaps in our fridges with exciting West Coast beers like:

  • Ballast Point Tongue Buckler
  • Speakeasy Black Hand Milk Choc Stout & Scarlett Red Rye
  • Fresh stock of Green Flash West Coast IPA & Palate Wrecker
  • Coronado Hoppy Daze Belgian IPA
We'll also have some super fresh beers on tap. So excite!