The first beer book I ever owned was the magnificent and much-missed Michael Jackson’s iconic Great Beer Guide (500 Classic Beers). The second was the Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Beer by ebullient English gentlemen Roger Protz. His use of “ultimate” in the title turned out to be perhaps a tad misleading as he went on to write literally thousands of articles and at least 20 more books about beer. His latest literary offering - 300 More Beers to Try Before You Die – arrived recently. I basically tore the courier package open like a six-year-old drinking Red Bull on a hot Christmas morning. It was not my proudest moment.

Last Thursday I visited Malthouse to meet a man with one of the dodgiest moustaches since David Warner in order to drink beer out of a Secret Squirrel cutting edge beer glass. My host was Mr Jules Van Cruysen, a self described “dad, sommelier, beermelier, wine writer, wine pimp, drinker and thinker.” He is also a serious foodie and his day job is regional sales manager for Macvine International, a wine importer who also happens to distribute Spiegelau glassware in New Zealand. I was there to try their much vaunted specialty IPA beer glass.

Wellington is gradually returning to a semblance of normality after the Bacchanalian frenzy of Beervana. One of the many benefits of the festival is that it sees the Craft Beer Capital of New Zealand flooded with new releases, festival beers and rarely seen brews. The tap beer selection around town is rarely better. I popped into Malthouse earlier this week for my first visit since Choice Beer Week to peruse the taps and see what leapt out at me. [1]

Last week was Choice Beer Week, a new seven day celebration of craft beer held in Wellington. People from around New Zealand and Australia – and a fair smattering from further afield – descended on the Craft Beer Capital of New Zealand to enjoy tastings, dinners, exhibitions, tap takeovers, meet the brewer events, degustations, photography exhibitions, the New Zealand Beer Awards and Beervana – the nation’s premiere beer festival.

It has been almost a whole week since IPA Day [1] and many of the nation’s hop heads are becoming restless and thirsty.

It’s always great to be a craft beer drinker in Wellington but this is a particularly spectacular week. Choice Beer Week, a new celebration of craft beer around the Capital, has kicked off and culminates