Hawkes Bay Independent Brewery: Journal Entry

Luke & Kelly with Hawkes Bay Independent Brewery's Greg & Howie

From the NZ Craft Beer TV journal, 20/2/11: 

The long and winding road head southwards to more wine country. This time it was the Hawkes Bay that beckoned, with its Art Deco and golden sands and fields resembling fruit bowls, bulging with cherries, nectarines and apples ready to pick. It's not just wine that 'The Bay' is known for though, we were here to check out a couple of iconic breweries.

We woke to a crisp morning and headed to our first port of call, Hawkes Bay Independent Brewery (HBIB). We were met by General Manager Greg Forest and he enthusiastically talked us through the history of the brewery. It had begun with a bunch of mates getting together. Disillusioned with the stranglehold the brewing duopoly had on the country, they decided to build their own brewery, which originally focused solely on draught (keg and tanker) beer. The brewery continued to grow and they had an opportunity to move sites. The close-by Ballydooley cidery, which took advantage of the glut of great local apples and produced (and still does) top quality ciders had potential to be extended. HBIB approached them, eventually got incorporated into the site and has just recently acquired the cidery.

The great thing about HBIB is that it has a great bar/tasting room (The Filter Room) right next to it that is also used for functions. They have the full range of their beers on tap, along with ciders, a ginger beer and sparkling apple juice. You can order a tasting tray, sit back in the Hawkes Bay sunshine and know that what you're drinking is made a stone's throw away. With that in mind, we popped in to the brewery itself to meet the brewer, Howie Parkinson. Howie has been in the industry for 21 years, with the last six spent toiling away making great beers at HBIB. It's obvious he loves what he does. Nothing is too much trouble and he talks passionately about the brews and the recipes and the process. He jumps away to check the sparge and the first runnings of the wort, then bounces back full of enthusiasm. It's great to see.

We taste a few of the beers with Howie. The Pilsner is crisp and bitter and again shows why the NZ Pilsner style is so popular. It has hints of floral and citrus and the characteristic NZ Saaz nose that we are becoming accustomed to. It's well balanced with a little biscuity malt and if it hadn't been 8.30 in the morning, I would have easily finished the glass. We then tried the Amber Ale, which was more malt-led. It wasn't in your face, but a subtle push of light toffee and dried fruit. It was also generously hopped with more floral and berry hop notes floating around the top of the glass. The finish was dry and slightly roasty. Another quality beer. 

Howie gave us a taste of the ginger and honey infused Summer Ale, a popular beer in the warmer months with a little sweetness and big, perfumed notes. It was the Black Duck Porter though that stole the show for me. I have had this beer before and was really impressed with it. It was still brilliant. A hint of smoke and chocolate on the nose, a lovely, rich full body and smooth aftertaste. Fantastic. Howie explained that they also do a series of beers called 'From The Wood' that they only showcase at The Filter Room next door in small quantities. A few weeks earlier I had tried an impressive wheat beer there and this time they had a big, strong, heavily hopped IPA on tap. This was something fun for the brewers to play around with and get customer feedback on. A great innovation!