Stand Up Comedy - Saturday 18th May 2024. Check out details here https://wildestate.co.nz/events
Coming to visit Wild Estate in the next 3 weeks - book here!
Waiheke Island brewery's situated at Wild Estate, and is under the control of noted microbrewery veteran Alan Knight. Alan first came to Waiheke to start the brewery up in 1997, took a break in 2000 then returned in 2007. Considered eccentric, even by Waiheke standards, Alan is given to late nights, loudly opinionated journalistic rampages, kilt wearing, folk singing, gunfire, large scale home brewing operations and amateur theatricals.
We'd hoped to get him to give us a description of his career and brewing philosophy for the website but have been unsuccessful to date. Our repeated requests on the odd times he actually shows up at the brewery to carry out his arcane and mystifying duties are met with either outright refusal or vague assurances that he will ‘Jot something down when he gets a moment’. Fair to say he's still....jotting.....
But huge hats off to Alan - working with a brewery well over 2 decades old, its fair to say she's an 'absolute classic'. Though both are old and tough, they work in harmony but he confides that she can certainly be temperamental! Alan treats her the same way you’d look after a vintage car - just listen to the pumps, watches for leaks and even gets right inside the vessels from time to time just to keep an eye on things. He knows every last component she can and can’t do. I'm sure he's worked on far flasher breweries over the years, but his relationship with this one is something quite special!
Our most popular beer by far - we like to think this beer is 'sessionable' whilst chilling out on our beanbags! A Cologne Style Kolsh Pale Ale, Baroona was our brewery’s first product in 1998. We're proud to say it was the first beer in NZ to feature the famous Saaz B (Motueka) hops which gives this beer its distinctive grapefruit peel aroma and floral, citrus character. Baroona's brewed from 90% pilsner malt and 10% malted wheat, and it's top fermented with a touch of dry hopping to intensify flavours. 4.7% ABV
Waiheke Island's very own version of an IPA! Our way of bringing you something a little larger than your average brew. Our Dark Ale gives you MALT..... Wheat Beer gives you YEAST. Baroona gives you HOPS.... And the IPA, well it gives you LOTS AND LOTS OF EVERYTHING! Part of this beer’s appeal lies in the way it evolves. Wine drinkers appreciate changing vintages, and so IPA does something similar for the true Beer Hunter. But, this much we can say with certainty; Island IPA is the after dinner beer. The beer you want with strong cheese or a rich dessert.
Ahhhh Wheat Beer! Lovely, lovely Wheat Beer. No Summer’s day is complete without it. Cold, cloudy, light, fragrant, foamy, crisp yet rounded. We could drink pint after pint of it and often do. Bavarian style made from malted wheat and pale malted barley. Wheat has it’s own particular character - dry, grainy and complex. It can be tricky to make as wheat has no husk like barley, and tends to be slow in the lauter tun. Known as ‘Hefe Weizen’, it's pale, unfiltered and very lightly hopped. Yeast used is a particular strain that contributes unique aromas of cloves, banana and even that rather alarming pink bubble gum that anyone over forty might remember from their childhood.It's the minimalist of beer and the key note to making it is restraint! Now imagine the scene….it’s a hot day in February. The suns a shining and the beanbags are filling nicely with thirsty people. But none as thirsty as you. You’ve done a big walk, perhaps been out fishing or mowing the lawn. So you do the sensible thing and ask for a Wheat . It arrives in a glass already frosted with condensation. It's foamy head looks enticing and there's a fresh slice of lemon to bring out the flavour - You NEED this beer. Ah yes... Cold and refreshing, light, yet somehow rich as well. How did it take so long for New Zealand to discover this beer? On a hot Summer day this is indeed the perfect beer. You dwell on this for a moment and then realise that you have somehow managed to finish your glass without even realising. Don’t worry. Wheat Beer has that effect on you and we have plenty more where that one came from. And that, my friends, is what it’s like to drink Wheat Beer.
Original Porters were hugely popular in London in the 1720’s and breweries vied to build bigger and bigger brewing vessels (aka ‘Tuns’) to meet the demand for this dark and tasty ale. It eventually lost ground in the 19th century to the newly popular India Pale Ales and only the Irish kept it going in the form of Irish Stout. Rich and creamy, yet surprisingly light and thirst quenching. Our Dark Ale is based on the classic Porter style and uses a blend of eight different grades of malted barley for colour, body and flavour. The hopping is stronger than most dark beers with NZ grown Styrian Goldings used for bitterness and aroma. The soft chocolate notes of the dark roasted malt are the perfect balance for the hops, with their rich, fruit cake and marzipan flavour.
The Drunken Oyster...
Then Waiheke begun producing oysters at Te Matuku Bay. These were of an amazing quality. If you haven’t tried them then I urge you to do so right away. In fact, why are you sitting reading stuff on the internet when there are Te Matuku oysters to be tried? Go and try them now. I’ll wait here until you get back... Right, so, with fine oysters available, the perfect beer was needed to accompany them. No beer sets off the delicate salty flavour of a fresh oyster like a good Porter - and now we'd found our perfect oyster beer.
Beer food matching is some of the most enjoyable ‘work’ we've ever attempted (tough job, but hey, someone's gotta do it). Try this for yourself... Take a pint of Dark Ale.... slide in a freshly shucked oyster. Now take your time. Slowly the oyster gives up it’s spirit to the beer while the beer gives it’s spirit to your oyster. Finally salute to your 'Drunken Oyster' and say "Get your swimming trunks on ye little bastard' and bottoms up!
Warning - This experience has been known to make even strong men weep with joy. Don’t be embarrassed to do the same. Our servers will understand and bring you a tissue!
While our main business is beer, we had a spare bright tank that wasn’t doing much, and what with Wild on Waiheke being such a family sort of place we thought that a decent soft drink might be just the thing. So we did some experimenting with ginger, lemons, honey & sugar. We made a bit of noise and a big mess and came up with some fizzy stuff that was just about perfect. But it needed work....So we made even more noise and an even bigger mess and tried NOT heating the ginger first and suddenly it all clicked into place. Waiheke Island’s own real Ginger Beer!
Perfect for youngsters, designated drivers and for settling queasy stomachs of chaps who overindulged the night before. Our Ginger Beer's made from 100% fresh ingredients, and isn't pasteurised or mucked about with in any way. We feed huge amounts of ginger through a juicer along with quite a few lemons, mix it all up with raw sugar and honey and give it heaps of fizz. Although we put some into flagons, we serve it on tap just like our beers. So you can drink as much as you like and be safe to drive. Though you may burp quite loudly.
Brewed on site alongside our beers from Hawkes Bay Granny Smith apples. Crisp apple flavour and just the right level of sweetness. The aroma and flavour are both full of fresh apple notes and a lingering finish. 5.5%ABV
A Classic NZ Pilsner - pale straw colour and made with the addition of Kahatu hops, bringing fresh tropical fruit characters and a lager yeast for a refreshing summer beer. 4.5%ABV
The most refreshing summer beer, with a kick of Wasabi - as in real wasabi root. It's such a huge hit it just keeps on coming back. Fresh, mild and spicy, goes bloody well with seafood and sushi.
