Good Beer Hunting

Garage Project's Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand's hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand's Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country's Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington's famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand's national museum.

***

"Crucial Taunt" is a great name for a fictional band, a beer, and a hacky-sack team—at least that's what Matt Tarpey from The Veil and I decided when we caught up at the Hāpi Festival and Symposium. When I saw him pass me in the symposium hall, my immediate thought was, "Damn, that's a nice Veil jacket." Then I wondered why he looked familiar to me. It's because The Veil was profiled in 2016 on Good Beer Hunting, complete with some incredible photography from Cory Smith. That story went live soon after the brewery launched; since then, Matt's talents in the brewhouse have helped The Veil build a sterling reputation for hop-forward beers.

In this fourth and final episode from our Hāpi Festival and Symposium, Matt also shares the story of his first helicopter experience, and even gives us a scoop on some expansion plans for the brewery. Listen in.

Garage Project's Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand's hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand's Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country's Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington's famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand's national museum.

***

What's the correct rate for dry hopping with graham crackers? We learn that in part three of our Hāpi Festival and Symposium podcast series.

The Bruery, from Placentia, California is not a brewery that I had ever associated with hop-forward beers, so I was curious to know why they were at a hop symposium. It turns out, however, that The Bruery recently launched a side project focused on hoppy beers called Offshoot Beer Co., and its innovation manager Andrew Bell was on hand to tell us all about it.

As it is The Bruery, we also got to talking about Imperial Stouts. After our conversation, I tasted Share This: Mole Imperial Stout—if I'm honest, it may have been one of the best beers I tried all day. Listen in.

Garage Project's Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand's hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand's Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country's Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington's famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand's national museum.

***

I was happy to talk to J.C. Hill from Alvarado Street Brewery, based in Monterey, California, as part of our Hāpi Festival and Symposium podcast series. I'd heard exciting things about his beers and loved the artwork on the labels. In our conversation, and in the following interviews, I really wanted to get an understanding of how the experience of visiting New Zealand hop fields would influence brewers when they got back into the brewhouse.

We also talk a bit about Cryo Hops, Italian Pilsners, and how good New Zealand tomatoes taste. Listen in.

Garage Project's Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand's hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand's Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country's Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington's famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand's national museum.

***

Out of Wellington, New Zealand, Garage Project was launched in 2011 by brothers Ian and Pete Gillespie and their friend Jos Ruffell. The trio first made their presence known with the brewery's "24/24" series: 24 beers released in 24 weeks to an eager Wellington public.

Since then, Garage Project has made its name by continuing to push boundaries with unusual creations and projects, such as layered beer designed to imitate a flat white, making beers for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and even releasing a series of natural wines spiked with Lactobacillus or aged on unusual oak. Over the next seven years, they will also be working on the Hāpi project for the benefit of New Zealand's hop growing industry.

I had the chance to take Jos aside, as the festival was in full swing, so he could share just what it was all about. Listen in.

Today’s episode is the second we’ve done with this duo of Mike Siegel of Goose Island and Ron Pattinson, beer historian, writer, and a collaborator on a recipe revival project of sorts. Way back in 2016 we invited these two over to the studio to discuss their Brewery Yard Stock Pale Ale, a barrel-aged brett pale reminiscent of what a beer brewed in England over a century ago may have been like according to their research. 

Today’s conversation is about a new beer called Obadiah Poundage, which isn’t trying to replicate a recipe so much as try to approximate what a porter might have tasted like if it were brewed in London in 1840. 

These beers have both been fascinating, not only for their history and story, but the final product itself. They taste and feel familiar, but with an edge that’s entirely foreign. Like a bizarro world version of a beer you think you know. Sometimes that’s an ingredient choice, or a process decision, or in some cases, a fermentation character that’s just slightly outside the norm. All of it adding up to a wholly enjoyable, yet intriguing  version of, in this case, a porter. 

I love getting these two guys together—you can see the child-like excitement that comes out of their shared passion for these collaborations. It’s a great reminder of how genuinely fun beer, brewing, and history can be when it all comes together in a project like this. 

This is Ron Pattinson and Mike Seigel, listen in.

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.  

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum. 

***

“Crucial Taunt” is a great name for a fictional band, a beer, and a hacky-sack team—at least that’s what Matt Tarpey from The Veil and I decided when we caught up at the Hāpi Festival and Symposium. When I saw him pass me in the symposium hall, my immediate thought was, “Damn, that’s a nice Veil jacket.” Then I wondered why he looked familiar to me. It’s because The Veil was profiled in 2016 on Good Beer Hunting, complete with some incredible photography from Cory Smith. That story went live soon after the brewery launched; since then, Matt’s talents in the brewhouse have helped The Veil build a sterling reputation for hop-forward beers.

In this fourth and final episode from our Hāpi Festival and Symposium, Matt also shares the story of his first helicopter experience, and even gives us a scoop on some expansion plans for the brewery. Listen in.

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.  

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum. 

***

What’s the correct rate for dry hopping with graham crackers? We learn that in part three of our Hāpi Festival and Symposium podcast series. 

The Bruery, from Placentia, California is not a brewery that I had ever associated with hop-forward beers, so I was curious to know why they were at a hop symposium. It turns out, however, that The Bruery recently launched a side project focused on hoppy beers called Offshoot Beer Co., and its innovation manager Andrew Bell was on hand to tell us all about it. 

As it is The Bruery, we also got to talking about Imperial Stouts. After our conversation, I tasted Share This: Mole Imperial Stout—if I’m honest, it may have been one of the best beers I tried all day. Listen in.

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.  

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum. 

***

I was happy to talk to J.C. Hill from Alvarado Street Brewery, based in Monterey, California, as part of our Hāpi Festival and Symposium podcast series. I’d heard exciting things about his beers and loved the artwork on the labels. In our conversation, and in the following interviews, I really wanted to get an understanding of how the experience of visiting New Zealand hop fields would influence brewers when they got back into the brewhouse.

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.  

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum. 

***

Out of Wellington, New Zealand, Garage Project was launched in 2011 by brothers Ian and Pete Gillespie and their friend Jos Ruffell. The trio first made their presence known with the brewery’s “24/24” series: 24 beers released in 24 weeks to an eager Wellington public. 

Since then, Garage Project has made its name by continuing to push boundaries with unusual creations and projects, such as layered beer designed to imitate a flat white, making beers for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and even releasing a series of natural wines spiked with Lactobacillus or aged on unusual oak. Over the next seven years, they will also be working on the Hāpi project for the benefit of New Zealand’s hop growing industry.

I had the chance to take Jos aside, as the festival was in full swing, so he could share just what it was all about. Listen in.

Like all of the U.K., Wales has a long, rich history of brewing. The Welsh brewing industry has pretty much had the same fortunes, too—peaking in the late 1800s then declining thanks to temperance, World Wars, and consolidation throughout the 20th century.

But at some point in the early 2000s, the countries' paths diverged. While Scotland got Harviestoun and then BrewDog, and England gained Dark Star, Rooster's, Thornbridge, and others, Wales didn't catch on to modern craft beer as quickly.

In fact, it still only has a handful of well regarded craft breweries, of which my guests today are easily the best known. Founded in 2012 in a garage in South Wales, Tiny Rebel has had a meteoric rise to fame, buoyed by some incredible and unlikely successes. In 2013, the brewery won gold, silver and bronze in CAMRA's Champion Beer of Wales competition, and its flagship Red Ale, Cwtch, went on to win Champion Beer of Britain in 2015, making Tiny Rebel the youngest brewery ever to take the prize.

That triumph, which caught the brewers completely by surprise, was a watershed moment, and put them on course for where they are now—a towering brewery and taproom that looks like it's straight out of San Diego but is actually in an industrial park in Rogerstone, just outside Newport. There Tiny Rebel brews 17,000bbl (20,000hl) a year, with Cwtch and juicy pale ale Club Tropicana taking up most of the tanks. It has become a local landmark, welcoming hundreds of drinkers every day who get through around 1,100bbls a year.

They've just broken ground across the road too, where they will build a £3-million sour facility and distillery. Like all fast-growing and successful businesses, Tiny Rebel has had its controversies along the way. Such success breeds suspicion, and recently there were wild rumors of a sale to Molson Coors that proved completely unfounded. Tiny Rebel's nostalgic branding has also gotten them in trouble with industry watchdog The Portman Group, and the brewery's heavy use of adjuncts has earned them ire from less well humored beer geeks.

We talk through all that and more when I sit down with founders Bradley Cummings and Gareth Williams. But what is most remarkable is the humor, and sense of fun, that pervades the conversation. Some may be uneasy with what they do, but they are very easy in themselves, and rightly proud of what they have achieved. This is Brad and Gazz of Tiny Rebel Brewing. Listen in.