Auckland Pub Anagram Beer: Is This The Most Expensive Beer In New Zealand?

An Auckland pub is serving a beer that will cost you $ 25 for a small 200ml glass, and beer experts say the price is more than justified.

Anagram is a Blueberry Cheesecake Imperial Stout, by Omnipollo and Dugges, aged for nine months in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels and shipped cold around the world from Sweden to New Zealand.

At 15 percent alcohol, it’s to drink, not break, and The Fridge and Flagon in Auckland sells it only in 200ml glasses.

The price tag means the beer is $ 60 a pint, possibly making it the most expensive beer in New Zealand.

Jet-black in color and with a thick, syrupy consistency, Anagram may not be the beer for light lager fans, but it does score a clean 100% on the global rating website RateBeer, making it a of the best beers on the planet.

Matt Eats, beer curator at The Fridge and Flagon, says Anagram is “an incredibly rare and exciting beer that is unlike anything you’ve ever had before.”

For Eats, this beer glass is better value for money than most of the wine glasses people pay for in restaurants: “People don’t blink at paying $ 25 for a decent glass of wine at any wine bar , but for that price you are experiencing something really special, “he said.

“It is one of the best beers in the world, it is as strong as wine (even stronger), it is made with the same love and care and with much more interesting ingredients. Anyway, the wine is basically old grape juice, Where is the fun? “

Kiwi craft beer experts agree that despite the high price, this beer is a worthy investment.

Beer Jerk co-founder Luke White says he views this type of beer “in a similar way to cake.”

“I don’t eat cake every day and when I do, it’s in moderation. I would never spend $ 25 on a mass-produced junk box like Heineken, but I would certainly leave $ 25 for a glass of beer that has been perfectly brewed by masters who use ultra premium ingredients and processes, “he added.

For White, the problem is that many people see beer as a “staple that they buy in large boxes along with toilet paper and bleach.”

“We sell some beers that cost $ 3 and some beers that cost $ 60 and, like all products, some things just cost more than others. I drive a Honda moped and would never dream of spending $ 100,000 on a car, but I would not envy others. doing it, “he explained.

White says he would love to see “New Zealand people spend more money drinking less alcohol.”

“The ingredients that go into a good beer are just too expensive. ‘Cheap’ beers like Heineken and Corona are actually much more profitable for brewers because they are mass produced and use exponentially fewer ingredients, especially hops,” he added.

Michael Donaldson, author of “Beer Nation” and editor of “The Pursuit of Hoppiness,” says “not everyone will see the value of a beer like this.”

“But, if you are the type of person who savors the flavor and enjoys unique experiences in good company, go for it! Obviously, don’t buy it if you can’t afford it,” he added.

Beer Jerk co-founder Brent Grove believes that if you’re going to the trouble of importing beer into New Zealand, it might as well be good beer.

“I don’t see any point in importing beers that taste like Steinlager or Lion Red. If we are going to make the effort to import a beer, it will be unique and world-class,” Grove said.

“This is certainly not a case of ‘New Zealand scam’. It is simply a very expensive beer to produce and we are selling it for the same price as the bars in Britain and Sweden, despite the high shipping cost here and Notoriously high rates of excise duty on alcohol in New Zealand. The real scam comes from people charging $ 14 for a bottle of Heineken on the boardwalk, “he added.

“It sure is five times more than a normal beer,” says Dave Sanderson, a regular at Fridge and Flagon. “But it’s about 100 times better, so I think it’s a lot.”