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Coast is all things to everyone

We've been wanting to get to the West Coast Brewery for quite a while. Some might not consider it part of our top-of-the-south beat, but if they aren't top of the south, then where are they?

We've always felt we should include it in this column. Unfortunately, Westport is too far enough away to justify the drive just for the beer, and our other excuses to go are on holidays when brewer Dave Kurth shouldn't be at the brewery.Still, even thinking we'd yet again miss Dave, we dropped in on Christmas Eve to pick up some beer for the celebrations. To our surprise, Dave and his assistant, Ben, were both there, partway through a tasting of the 13 beers on tap with Luke Robertson, a beer blogger from Melbourne.

When Dave started in 2010, his first mission was to "clean up" the beers the locals drank, including the draught, lager and dark beers. So even though the New Zealand draught style doesn't generally excite us, it was the right place to start, and proved to be a clean, hoppy, very well balanced version, perfect after a long drive.

The big surprise was learning that the dark is still the biggest seller – apparently, the old timers are quite devoted. Dave tells of finding an insipid concoction when he started, but most of the regulars haven't noticed his efforts, although there is one who admits to preferring the old version.

Having covered the old lineup, we began to venture into the new products, starting with the wheat beer. This is apparently Dave's least favourite to brew. "My system is quite slow, taking about nine to 10 hours for a brew anyway, so add 40 per cent wheat, and you're up to about a 14-hour day." He's happy it's not a huge seller, so he doesn't brew it often, but it certainly displays his talent, hitting a full clove and fruit balance, with a lovely creamy mouth-feeling and meringue-like head.

A newer experiment is the Session Ale, which he bemoaned had almost no hops, and yet was judged at BrewNZ as too hoppy for style. He had to admit, though, that hops had been added right at the end of the brew, and it did have a surprising amount of hop aroma and flavour.

We were almost knocked off our stools by the transition to the next beer, his pale ale. We were already fans of this beer from Hop Showcases at Moutere Inn, and it certainly grabs your attention with its intense citrusy New Zealand hop aromas, full-hop flavour, and well-rounded malt profile.

He uses a blend of malts, including cara-aroma, which seems to be the new darling in the New Zealand brew scene. If you noticed that we said we were given 13 beers from the tap, you might be wondering how a little craft brewer from Westport can sell that many beers. West Coast Brewery is also a contract brewer.

The demands of contract brewing have run the range from being sent a homebrew recipe to adapt, all the way to having Dale Holland come and brew on site. It's hard for Dave to step back and accept the client's requirements.

When sent one sample to emulate, he felt he had to improve it. Fortunately, the client has agreed that it's now a better beer. You might not realise you have been drinking Dave's beers in Nelson, including Dead Good Pilsner, IPA and Golden Ale; Moutere Inn Brewing Co's Sarau Lager and Neudorf Ale; and most recently, Dale's Belgian Ale and American Amber Ale. Before Dave headed off to have Christmas with his family, we had one more beer to try.

A few months ago, he brewed a barley wine, which he is now ageing. It is full flavoured and balanced in the English style. In another month or two, it should be ready for sale, but he hopes to make it a special launch, with individually numbered bottles, sold directly from the brewery.

News Sourced from Stuff.co.nz