Beer of the Week: Garston Gold 2.0

For the longest time, far too many local breweries acted as though craft beer and sports were mutually exclusive interests. Much of that belief was tied to old-school macrobeer advertising that leaned heavily on macho caveman drivel and was painfully omnipresent, both at arenas and stadiums as well as on sports broadcasts. But as we’ve learned over time, craft beer has a place at sports bars, ballparks, arenas and stadiums. Likewise, it’s OK to have televisions tuned to ball games in brewery tasting rooms. Heck, some of the most popular beers and successful marketing initiatives from local breweries have involved local teams and sports stars. It’s great to see these stigmas slain, because most times, bringing suds and sports together creates a communal magic that’s near impossible to match. That much was proven last weekend when Kairoa Brewing held a multifaceted two-day affair inspired by the New Zealand national rugby team’s visit to San Diego for a match against Fiji at Snapdragon Stadium. The Kiwi-owned-and-operated business could have just opened early, live streamed the game and called it a day, but they went all in. In addition to having the game on, the University Heights brewpub offered New Zealand food specials, stayed open late the night of the match and tapped a quartet of limited-edition liquids, including this week’s featured beer, Garston Gold 2.0. A West Coast IPA, it was brewed with Motueka hops from New Zealand’s Garston Hops. Those Southern Hemisphere beauties give off aromas of petrol and peach (apt given the name of Kairoa’s head brewer, see below), leading to a complex flavor profile evocative of lemongrass, lime zest, white grape, apricot and nectarine. It’s as much a triumph as the 47-5 thrashing the All Blacks issued to the Flying Fijans. And it’s still on tap at Kairoa, along with a Motueka-hopped Pilsner called Dry Hop Drop, a German-style schwarzbier going by the name Boots + Stubbies, and a West Coast IPA brewed in collaboration with Burgeon Beer Co. and Societe Brewing dubbed Bring the Ruck-us. Beer and sports don’t go together…yeah, nah!

James McNamee, the founder of Garston Hops, was making a trip to the U.S. after developing his world-class hops on his family’s sheep farm, which has been in his family for around 150 years. It also turns out that my cousin and local legend, Andy Hall, was friends with this good family, so it made sense that James would come have a beer at Kairoa and chat about their fantastic hops. We took to each other like ducks to water and have been working together ever since. Once we met James, it wasn’t long before we started talking about New Zealand rugby. We talked about how the All Blacks were coming to San Diego to play Fiji at Snapdragon Stadium. James and his family planned to come out for the game, as were many other Kiwis from around the country and the world. We knew instantly that we needed to make a few special beers to be released in honor of this historic game. I wanted to center our collaboration beers around hops from Garston because I believe their hops to be exceptional, and at Kairoa, we strive to make the best beer possible. Excellent ingredients set you in the right direction toward a final product upon which one can be proud of. I have never seen a better version of Motueka than what they produce on their farm.”

Joe Peach, Head Brewer, Kairoa Brewing

Kairoa Brewing is located at 4601 Park Boulevard in University Heights