Though it has a ways to go before its projected January 15 opening, and brewing won’t commence until this weekend, a sneak peek of the offerings from highly-anticipated University Heights brewpub, Kairoa Brewing, is being provided by its ownership team. Head brewer Joe Peach will work off a 10-barrel brewhouse, while also experimenting using a one-barrel pilot system, which will allow him to provide a good deal of variety. So, what can customers expect from the opening-day beer board?
“We want to brew plenty of lagers as well as ales, so we will be brewing an authentic-style New Zealand pilsner and Munich dunkel right off the bat,” says Peach. “We will also brew an oatmeal stout, a hoppy session wheat beer, an English-style nut brown ale, a Belgian-style pale ale, West Coast-style pale ale, and an ever-changing, rotating list of various types of IPAs.”
Peach also intends to fill bourbon barrels with high-alcohol styles, including a Russian imperial stout, English-style barley wine and Belgian-style dark strong ale. A house saison will be ear-marked for wine barrels, and inoculated with a proprietary blend of Brettanomyces cultures. Kairoa will be outfitted with a total of 24 taps. The initial goal will be to have roughly half of them dispensing house beers. The rest will be supplemented by guest ales and lagers.
On the food side of the equation, chef Oliver Peach points to the following everyday items as exemplars of Kairoa’s culinary style: green-lip mussels steamed in spicy house-pilsner broth with crispy pork belly, a smoked lamb sandwich with mint chimichurri and piri piri aioli, beer-battered fish and chips with New Zealand-style fries and slaw, and vegan chili cheese fries with vegan nacho cheese. A weekend brunch will feature specialty dishes such as bacon-and-egg pie, French toast with maple syrup mascarpone cheese, shrimp and grits with tomato chutney, and mini “New Zealand” scones.
