You know that little nocturnal arthropod walking worm-like creature that was discovered in Caversham recently? It's a rare peripatus, more commonly known as a Velvet Worm. Well, Bart Acres (below) has pegged his whole existence on them.
When he decided to start his own brewery earlier this year he called it the Velvet Worm Brewery. It's a catchy name with a local story and his brews are even catchier. He has a pale ale, red ale and a pilsener with a bunch of seasonal beers being produced for you to taste at The Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival on Saturday – seriously, he wants you to taste them and help him decide which ones to go into production with. How cool is that?
Bart's a pretty cool guy – he got his first brew kit for his 21st and hasn't looked back. He's just 28, but his microbrewery is an impressive sight and can do 600 litres a week. We don't think that will be enough.
We also met Enrico Gritzner from Green Man Brewery this week (okay, it is beerfest week so we're getting in the swing of things early). Enrico and his team make eight different beers with more seasonal beers coming online for summer. Enrico is a big German guy with a hearty laugh and a generous dose of Kiwi zest for life. He makes a lot of beer, but the brewery is not too big that he can't experiment – like the macadamia brandy-infused bock beer he's working on right now. You can tell he just loves it. He's been brewing for 24 years with all the Green Man beers brewed according to the Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516. That means it's good for you and the environment.
In between all the beer education we managed to witness some cool seascapes. The changeable weather at this time of the year makes for great sky and ocean states. There were waves around for those lucky with the wind.
Circle Friday in your diary now ... looks like a big swell and favourable wind window about to open for us all.
See you at the beach ...
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