Hopscotch Beer Company

I first heard about the Hopscotch Beer Company in the Arch Hill News - gosh that is a veritable treasure trove of interesting information! The same day, the lovely Byron Henry of Revolution Wine Co told me it was a place we should definitely check out.

So I went on an Eden Terrace adventure yesterday, and I met Hugh Grierson, the man behind Hopscotch. It was QUITE an entertaining experience.

Hopscotch Beer Company is a place to buy boutique beer, but more than that, it's a secret passageway into the New Zealand beer-making community for the everyday Aucklander (i.e. me or you).

Hidden down a rollercoaster street filled with industrial warehouses. It's actually disguised as one of said industrial warehouses, but walk into Hugh's place and you'll find much more and also much less than you expect.

Hopscotch is a big, airy space. It has a work-in-progress feel about it (which might be permanent). There is a wooden bench on one side of the room and behind it is a row of taps. Delicious beer pours from these taps at Hugh's command. These beers can be tasted and chosen and then poured into 1000ml glass bottles (from Europe) for you to take home. These bottles cost $10, but they are an investment, because after they've been taken home and consumed they can be washed out and taken back to Hugh for their next beer adventure.

Two students walked into Hopscotch Beer Company the same time I did. They knew a lot more about beer than me. Hugh staged an impromptu tasting for the three of us. I was relatively intimidated by the whole thing, probably because I'm not much of a beer drinker. I like it, but it's not something I buy for casual consumption - I'm more into lemonade.

So we started with a Greenfern Organic Lager, I've a written a note about this beer, it says "sweet." Then we tried the West Coast Pale Ale, I've written a note next to this as well, it says "sweet, summery." Yes. I am clearly not very knowledgeable.

I think the Pale Ale was my favourite though.

Hugh has a cooler filled with kegs, he has more beer varieties than taps at the moment, so he changes them often. The Hopscotch website is kept pretty current with what's available, but you can guarantee that each visit to Hopscotch will offer a completely different experience. Soon you'll have the choice of filling your Hopscotch glass bottle with Zeffer Cider. You can also take home a freshly poured bottle of Revolution Pinot Noir to enjoy with your weeknight dinner too.

So where did the concept for Hopscotch Beer Company come from? The USA. Apparently off-licenses like his one are quite common over there. Hugh was a rep for a few Kiwi beer companies for ten years before he started this, so he has a vast pool of knowledge about his products.

What else did Hugh get up to before Hopscotch? Good question. He studied ecology at Otago, but was forced to graduate with a zoology degree instead due to a failed first year grasslands paper (it was at 9am on a Friday morning and about tussock). He spent a few years teaching Food Technology at a high school in Te Atatu. He's also spent a fair amount of time in German beer halls (he didn't tell me this specifically, I extrapolated it out of the general chat).

During my forty minutes at Hopscotch, the four of us covered an array of conversational topics including the superior sound quality of vintage speakers and the potential for disguising good quality stout in a coke bottle. I left with my own Hopscotch bottle filled with West Coast Pale Ale (I think...). Yes, it's my favourite.

Please note: It's hard to leave Hopscotch without buying beer. It's also hard to imagine buying beer from anywhere else ever again. It's just so economical, it makes such good environmental sense and it was really quite fun.

Hopscotch Beer Company
2/2 Shaddock Street
Eden Terrace
(09) 354 4903