Cassels & Sons Brewery - a bar, brewery, cafe, restaurant & music venue

Tuesday's coming, did you bring your coat? Several days have gone by lately that have reminded us winter is coming. Lazy Thursday afternoons in the sun will be shelved for next year as our outdoor area evolves into its cold season persona.

The Woolston Tannery was built circa 1870 from brick by Gustav Lindstrom, great-great grandfather of one of the Cassels Sons.  The Cassels and Sons Brewery building stands on the banks of the Heathcote River. Prior to the arrival of the European the Heathcote River was a source of food for Maori. They called the River Opawaho and took from it fish, eels and wading birds.

How long before some wise guy decides that Woolston should be renamed faux-Pawa?

Long synonymous with industry at its dirtiest, the Christchurch suburb of Woolston is in the tricky business of reinventing itself as a middle-class destination.

I can remember my dad and uncle first getting keen on whole grain brewing in the early eighties. My dad used to mash and boil on the wood fired range at home in Sumner. Cleaning out the gear was always an onerous task but on sunny weekend afternoons we got to taste the goods and compare our beer with uncle Wintons.

The Brewery is a Pub, but not in the modern NZ sense. The big breweries have changed what was once a great place to take your family and friends and replaced a great institution with their idea of what the customer wants.
At Cassels & Sons, we want to take our guests back to better times.

Cassels & Sons Best Bitter 4.3%: Cask conditioned and served from a traditional handpump, this beer pours a bright amber hue with a thin white head. The aroma is sweet and fruity with lemon curd and grape combining with luscious cookie-like malt notes. In the mouth the beer is medium-bodied and drier than the nose suggests, with lemon zest and stonefruit sitting on top of the malt before the bitterness and drying effect of the hops wins out to leave an emphatic appetising finish. Tending more towards a pale ale than a bitter, this beer is a great match for most flavoursome English cheeses. Otherwise, try it with a classic Kiwi meat pie or a well loaded burger.
Geoff Griggs – October 2011