blog

Marchfest 2012

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:24:44 +1200

Greetings from Wizard Land Earthlets!

Marchfest this year was the best yet according to most. Despite terrible weather rain did not stop play and myself and the Wizard crew had a fine time indeed. John Copper Clarke was the star of the show and was absolutely amazing as ever, a true rock and roll professional and we got to meet him backstage which was great. Supergroove also rocked the tent wonderfully and will happily have them both back to Nelson every year!

The next brew of Steampunk is down and ready to go soon. I'm off hunting in Stewart Island at the end of the month so will try and find more ambergris when I'm down there, as well as some deer hopefully.

Have had great fun with new crossbow and the brewery fence has never had it so hard. Bloody great big holes all over the place and am getting through the bolts quite quickly but more on the way to replenish stocks. Wizard Bro in Pommy land also bought the same one at the same time so great and deranged minds think alike it seems

The coracles raw hide cow skin has dried and will soon be soaked and stretched over the frame once I get a chance, then we may finally get the voyage down the Motueka river as promised. Just in time for the winter and a cold water dunking no doubt

Barry Wizard and myself have picked about a tonne of real cider apple from his trees and a nearby wizards orchard. These will go into the second vintage of Pomona Traditonelle and if the cider gods are happy it'll be as good as the show stopping cider we made last year. Some of last years has also been entered into the Bath and West cider judging in the UK and we all hope it will do well. The reconditioned and very massive rack and cloth press is nearly finished and I'm looking forward to using it for the first time this year. No more basket press for us and this will be up for sale shortly, it did well but we need better efficiency as cider production increases of the next few years.

Thats' all for now, got malt delivery soon so best get ready...cheers

Marchfest 2012

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 03:52:37 +1200

BEER TOURS?

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:11:39 +1300

Phone and book yourself in for a brewery tour and tasting session. Check out the contact us page we'll show you what we do

Feijoa Wheat beer

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:32:32 +1300

A new spin on Wheat Beer...

Here we have the new line up from MWB, a FRUIT WHEAT BEER with a difference. Is it a Silly Saison or just another unusual beer from the deranged mind of yours truly? You decide, on tap now and selling fast!

The ELDERFLOWER SUMMER ALE is also soon to be on tap again and this year it's even better than ever. A light crystal clear ale with the heady overtones of fresh elderflowers, and we've used more this year than ever before so get some soon and drink the flavours of summer in a glass.

Ambergris, Ale and Alchemy

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:27:22 +1200

Ambergris, Ale and Alchemy. What is Ambergris? Well it's one of the most sought after aromatics on Earth and highly prized for centuries, that's what. There are few places where it can be found and we're lucky enough to have a great spot in New Zealand in the shape of Stewart Island. Thanks to Matty T for his foraging down there from us! It was prized by Alchemists and always trying to be different we have added some to this years Steampunk Strong Ale , now for the first time worldwide you can have some whale in your ale!

(No whales were hurt in the making of this beer!)

Ambergris is a fixative and does some incredible things to aroma, similar to truffles and musk it is used as an ingredient in exclusive perfumes in Paris. We think it does incredible things with hops and malt too. The time spent at sea bobbing around in salt water, with the action of the sun and of course the time spent inside a sperm whale make each piece found totally individual

Elderflowers

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:27:47 +1300

Well G'day to all out there in Wizard land!

I'm pleased to say we will shortly have our famous Elderflower summer ale on tap at the brewery. The beer has been racked onto the flowers yesterday and after a couple fo weeks the distinct aroma will diffuse into the ale along with the Nelson Sauvin hops that make this such a distinctive beer. This has to be the most popular and fast selling beer we have ever made and I advise all to be quick in getting some!

I've also done another wild and wonderful Wheat beer after the success of Kiwifruit Wheat. This next one will be ready in a month or so and has been brewed with mixed berries and black pepper and is quite unusual as you can imagine. Very refreshing and red in colour it should be a great hit over the summer.

Keep it wild and weird out there!

The Monkey Wizard

Berry Porter

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:01:11 +1200

Greetings and Salutations from Wizard Towers

Once more we return to the deranged mind and life of yours truly, the Monkey Wizard. And what has changed you ask? Quite a bit as it happens. Shaun Wizard and myself spent Monday brewing another MWB classic George Best because it's selling fast and we will run out soon. Luckily, Steampunk is nearly ready so we can still offer some high octane ale for the descerning drinker. Shaun and myself decided after much sampling that George needed more hops, it finished slightly sweeter than expected so this must be balanced accordingly so thet were duly included as late kettle additions.

Scottish wizard and I had many happy hours recording genuine drinking noises for the website. We have some assorted screams and cheers that will punctuate the pages. Some are a bit scary though but I'm sure no one will mind.Over to the technical team at WebOne to get them up and running

Despite the rain and earthquakes the Spring festival of Imbolg approaches and this means "in the belly" and that gives us a clue as to the importance of fertility to our pagan ancestors. Here at MWB we like the concept of bellies too and to celebrate Spring our next brew will be a spring inspired Oatmeal Berry Porter. This should get the waist lines expanding nicely! I also hope to use a Scottish Ale yeast to get a wickedly malty finish, best get to the laboratory methinks

We also welcome Jacky Wizard to the fold and she will be helping us with vessel filling over the busy time in the next few months. Gardening Wizard and I will hopefully press off some more cider this weekend weather permitting.

Best wishes to all!

Yeats drinks strong stout

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:10:01 +1200

" As I roved out to the hazel wood, because a fire was in my head. I plucked and peeled a hazel wand, hooked a berry to a thread. And as white moths were on the wing and moth like stars were flickering out, I dropped the berry in the stream and caught a little silver trout"

WB Yeasts

I don't think there's much that can be said after that . If you really want to see MWB attitude than we hope you see The Pogues, John Cooper Clarke, The Macc Lads and The Surfin Turnips on Youtube soon.

Kiwi Wheat

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:20:58 +1200

G'day Wizard fans.

I hope everyone is well out there in Wizard land. More rantings from the Troll Hole from your vertically challenged host I'm afraid

Many thanks for the mead guys, you know who you are.

The third version of Wizards Wheat is about to finish fermentation in the next few days and hopefully this will be a good one. Frankly the first two were crap in my opinion and with a bit of luck I will have cracked it this time. It's all about esters from the yeast and I haven't got enough spicy elements in this one for my liking yet but it ain't bad either way. I'm attempting a world first by making a Kiwi fruit wheat beer because I think the two would go together very well. As the kiwifruit is a Chinese gooseberry apparently it's technically a Gosset which is an ancient Scottish ale made using the ripe berries. Well, can't get them, so Kiwifruit will be the New World version and I'm quietly confident it'll be a cracker! Recently I tried Townshend and Dixon Wizards wheat beers at the Free House and both were mighty fine. Thanks to the Free House for that one.

Had another bottle of the Saison today with Belky Wizard and the brettanomyces is coming though very nicely. Only got 20 bottles left and must try and keep my hands off the stuff but its just gorgeous. Will make a commercial version later and I reckon it'll be wicked made with fresh elderflower or rose petals.

Mrs. Wizard has gone septic again so no more tantric sex for me.After a damn good thrashing from the broomstick, supplies of magical plants may be problematic for a while.

Wizards first rant

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:08:00 +1200

Good day to everyone and welcome to the new website and a big thank you to to WebOne Wizards and Andy Clover for putting up with my ramblings and disorganised wizards brain.

So here we are. What's new at the brewery? We have two strong ales coming on nicely in the conditioning tanks, the return of an old favourite George Best 6.2% and after that the dry hopped Steampunk Ale 7.3%. Both of which will keep us warm and toasty until Spring gets going. The Black Mass Stout has been a big seller this year and we needed more so I got going on some last week. Sadly the yeast was tired and lazy so I had to kickstart the brew with a Belgian Strong Ale yeast instead and it has fermented well ever since. Should be some interesting esters come over with that beer, not very 'true to style' but what the hell.

Here in the Troll Hole behind the brewery I attempt to organise myself and the brewery into some semblance of a well oiled machine. I do have a nice personal stash of Kawakawa Brown Ale conditioning nicely at my feet so that tends to help focus the mind. Also tried some of my Belgian Saison this weekend and very nice it is too. It's bottled conditioned with brettanomyces as well so should get quite complex over the next few months if I can keep my hands off it. These trials often go on to produce beers availaible to Wizard beer fans so don't despair. Coming your way soon....

Mrs. Wizard and I having been throwing spells at each other quite a bit it so I made myself scarce before we blew something up. I have manged to check on the magical garden though and Lovage, Elderflower, Anise Hyssop and gooseberries are all looking good and nicely mulched for their use in guit ales in the summer months. I can't wait!

Anyway I shot off in the magic bus to get some willow for coracle making. Found some lovely straight sun sticks near a stream in Marahau and once dried for six months I shall weave them into Coracle #2 and take a maiden voyage on the Motueka River (and try not to fall in). Coracles are very close to my heart and are the oldest type of boat in the world. Examples can be found everywhere and the UK has 25 different recognised styles. Our own Omaru in the South Island holds a annual coracle regatta and I'd love to go one day.

Sadly I must return to my weekely routine now Wizard fans. To help pay for magical training and buy equipment I need to work as a Barber Surgeon locally when not brewing. Shaving, haricuts, amputations and the pulling of teeth are all services I can offer to anyone in need.

Have a good one, Bibamus Moriendum est

The Wizard's Thoughts

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:24:53 +1200

In this diary, we have a good rant about beer, girls, guns and whatever we feel like.

Please note ~ some may find our musings offensive:

Once upon a time New Zealand had over 98 small breweries and many styles of beer were made (if you like Porter anyway). What the hell happened? Unfortunately New Zealand’s answer to prohibition was the infamous “Six o’clock swill” that changed to face of our pubs and beer forever. Mass produced and delivered by hoses in standing room only pubs, the Kiwi pint was now made by accountants for maximum profit. Two (or three?) giants emerged and dominated the brewing scene for the next thirty years. Luckily some chose to challenge this tedium and the craft beer movement was born.