An Auckland bar is now pouring NZ’s most expensive pint

Auckland’s home of rare and interesting beers, The Fridge and Flagon is pouring what might be NZ’s most expensive tap beer for their annual Christmas party. Cold shipped all the way across the world from legendary Swedish flavour wizards Omnipollo and Dugges the beer, called Anagram is a Blueberry Cheesecake Imperial Stout. Aged for 9 months in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels with a jet black colour and thick, syrupy consistency, the cake-flavoured brew is thought to be the most expensive draught pint in New Zealand coming in at a hefty $25 for a 200ml glass. (That would be $60 a pint!)

It’s a special beer that tastes of blueberry cheesecake, chocolate, maple syrup and gentle bourbon and at 15% it’s meant to be savoured, not smashed.

The Fridge and Flagon’s beer curator Matt Eats describes it as “An incredibly rare and exciting beer like nothing you’ve ever tasted before. It’s rich and hearty with a huge dark chocolate character and a beautiful thick texture. The blueberry comes in to cut through the sweetness before finishing with a heavy, warming alcohol note from the Bourbon Barrels.”

You don’t have to take their word for it though. Anagram is one of the highest rated beers in the world and gets a perfect 100 score on rating website RateBeer.

“I think of beer in a similar way to cake.” Says Beer Jerk co-founder Luke White “I don’t eat cake every day and when I do, it’s in moderation. I’d never waste $25 on a box of mass produced garbage like Heineken but I’d certainly drop $25 of a glass of beer that has been perfectly crafted by masters using ultra premium ingredients and processes”

“Not everyone will see the value in a beer like this” Says Michael Donaldson. Author of Beer Nation, the definitive history of beer and brewing in NZ “But, if you’re the sort of person that savours flavour and enjoying unique experiences in good company, go for it! Obviously don’t buy it if you cant afford it”

Eats goes on to say “People don’t blink at paying $25 for a glass of decent wine at any given wine bar but for that price you’re getting to experience something really special. It’s one of the best beers in the world, it’s just as strong as wine (stronger even), it’s made with equal love and care and way more interesting ingredients. Wine’s basically just old grape juice anyway, where’s the fun in that?”

“People sometimes get upset about seeing expensive beers as they view beer as a commodity product that they buy in big boxes along with toilet paper and bleach.” White continues. “We sell some beers that cost $3 and others that cost $60 and, like every product, some things simply cost more than others. I drive a Honda moped and would never dream of spending $100k on a car but I wouldn’t begrudge others doing so. I’d love to see people in New Zealand spending more money on drinking less alcohol. The ingredients that go into good beer are simply very expensive. ‘Cheap’ beers like Heineken and Corona are actually way more profitable for the brewers because they are mass produced and use exponentially less ingredients, especially hops.”

The Fridge & Flagon is the warehouse bar/shop ran by the team behind the online craft beer retailer Beer Jerk. Beer Jerk are one of the only retailers that exclusively sells beer from independent breweries and they import exclusive beers like this from all over the world. Beer Jerk co-founder Brent Grove says “I don’t see any point in importing beers that taste like Steinlager or Lion Red if we’re going to the effort of importing a beer it’s going to be unique and world class.”

“This certainly isn’t a case of ‘rip-off New Zealand’ says Grove. “This is simply a very expensive beer to produce and we’re selling it for the same price as bars in Britain and Sweden, despite the large cost of shipping it here and NZ’s notoriously high alcohol excise rates. The real rip off comes from the people charging $14 for a bottle of Heineken on the waterfront.”

“Sure it’s 5 times more than a regular beer” Says Fridge and Flagon regular Dave Sanderson “but it’s about 100 times as good so I reckon that’s a great deal.”

Beer Jerk was started 6 years ago by friends Luke White and Brent Grove and they’ve always sought out the most interesting beers they can get their hands on.