Good George Beer Tasting (Hamilton, New Zealand)

We spent a lot of time in this place, in fact we did have two straight days with them, first was the dinner and the beer tasting then the next day where we had our lunch. This can be a very long post hence I will divide it into two different ones, first is just the review of the beer tasting and the other one which is the review of their food which we will be doing a bit later.

We did this on our departments’ annual conference as a part of the team building event after the whole day of planning. It’s such a different activity to participate because we usually do the adrenalin filled ones like go carting, tree rope course, paintball, archery, clay shooting, axe throwing we even planed for a bridge climb with bungee at the end,- but this time it is quite tamed we had a beer tasting in one of the best craft beer brands here in New Zealand the Good George Beer.

We visited the place just before having our dinner and it was already packed with people when we came in, luckily this was planned ahead of time so we have a reserved place for us.

Several minutes later we were handed over some high visibility jackets so we can get ready with the tour.

As we waited we were offered to order some beers, menu was handed over and it looks like a really good selection.

I grabbed a pilsner and on the first sip I already noticed a big difference, it feels fresh and its really easy to drink, I can even smell the hops as the glass approaches my nostrils definitely this is a good quality craft beer.

I haven’t even drank the half of my beer and the tour is about to start so I have to skull it all rather than it becomes warm waiting for me to finish the tour.

We then left their dining hall which by the way was an old church (St George, hence the name) and on to their back room where they first started their brewery business. From there we then visited their warehouse where the ingredients and precious hops are stored, freshly imported from reputable sources.

If you will notice everything is refrigerated this is because their beers do not have preservatives and it is always shipped in refrigerated containers as well. We then moved on to their bottling room, then into their brewing tanks and to the place where the beer first starts. We even have a chance to smell different ingredients like barley, hops and other grains, we also had a view of what’s inside the yeast starters.

I will not be detailing this in great as it is still best to see this in location and best to hear it from the founders of the business, so I will leave it to them to continue where I started.

After the tour we were then sent back to our tables so we can start with our tasting together with some dishes that we would want to order. The tasting will give you a chance to try all of their offerings from beers and even the ciders, and you will enjoy each one differently if you do this tour as each of them have individual stories on how they were created.

We certainly had lots of beers because the tasting will run you through nine different beers (if I can remember correctly) and ciders served on small glasses. So if you’re not a heavy drinker watch out as it may be too much for you.

For me it’s just OK, though I am not a heavy drinker I think I can handle this tasting a couple pints more. I loved all the beer and cider and each have their own characteristic but definitely they all tasted really fresh but one that stood out for me was this Doris Plum Cider with hints of plum & fruit, with sweet and sour taste definitely refreshing as well as the sparkling pale ale which has some hints of citrusy flavour and a bit of bitterness, definitely crisp and has a very nice after taste. I also noticed that a lot of my colleagues also loved the Indian Pale Ale but for me it was quite heavy.

I had a good time here, I can’t even wait to share you my food experience as it was quite heavenly as well. I would definitely recommend doing the tasting and tour, I also highly recommend their beers especially when you are buying it directly from the brewery. If you want to do something different in Hamilton then I suggest you give this a try! Its fun, it’s informative and you will definitely fall in love with craft beers like this.

Good George Brewing
Address: 32A Somerset St, Frankton, Hamilton, New Zealand 3204
Phone: +647-847 3223
Website : http://www.goodgeorge.co.nz