Christchurch Beer Guide: Your Christchurch guide to beer, beer bars, breweries and brewpubs

Latest reviews from Christchurch

82 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“A most comfortable place to drink and chat. Leather sofas and a few tables as well as a covered alfresco area. Plenty of soft furnishings mean you can talk with out competing with the whole bar. Certainly a speakeasy style as the name suggests. One reviewer mentioned mice. They must have been lucky as after many years as a regular I've missed out on them. Basically snack food but there sliders and jalapinos are very good. Not as many taps as some bigger bars but there's some great in- house beers and always some guest beers.“
SourSensei61 1096 days ago
70 /100 380 COLOMBO STREET
“A nice big venue with outside seating covers any group. A good range of food and beer covers any customer. The friendly service covers everything else.“
beer-yum 1366 days ago
76 /100 126 OXFORD TERRACE
“Covered all I need in a craft beer bar in the summer. Spot on service, great selection and a lovely location. What’s not to like?“
beer-yum 1368 days ago
76 /100
The Beer Library (Beer Store)
363 COLOMBO ST
“Nice bottle shop on the south side of Christchurch. Note, they are CASH ONLY unless you have a local card. Great selection, ciders and beers. Focuses on NZ and AUS. Run by a friendly, knowledgeable American. Good prices. Must stop in Christchurch.“
nimbleprop 1681 days ago
82 /100
Moon Under Water (Restaurant)
152 SOMERFIELD STREET
“Really solid beer centered restaurant. Mostly pub food and everything we had was solid. Great service and good selection of beers, especially those from the area. Visited with Tim, Chelsea, and Jack in 2019.“
ads135 1727 days ago
82 /100 22B TYNE STREET
“A nice addition to the craft beer scene. As much a distributor for area bars as anything, but you can also stop by to pick up brews, in bottles or otherwise. Excellent selection of NZ ale.“
ads135 1727 days ago
80 /100
The Beer Library (Beer Store)
363 COLOMBO ST
“Big fan of this place. Visited with Jack in 2019 before filming at Orana. Solid selection of beers, especially special New Zealand brews, though they also have a nice collection of foreign beers. Really nice staff. Make sure to bring cash!“
ads135 1727 days ago
88 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Really big fan of this place. Classic English pub appearance. Just outside the city center. Really solid collection of NZ beers on tap. Friendly bar staff and even friendlier dinner service. Food was solid as well. Visited with Kelsey and Tim in 2019.“
ads135 1789 days ago
92 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“Drapery decor plus modern interior may be not to everybody's taste but it is compensated by very comfortable sofas all around the place. Only 11 taps but what a wonderfil selection.Elegant and discrete service behind bar.Wonderful beer place.“
purc 2069 days ago
74 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Tries to pretend an English pub, but what about the alarm that is on every 10 minutes?Behind bar women-only staff are a little bit too outgoing and keep addressing you "love' and '"my dear", but don't have much to say about the beer they sell.Many taps but not many good beers to drink.“
purc 2069 days ago
88 /100 126 OXFORD TERRACE
“One of the best places in Christchurch for lunch and a beer. The food is delicious, with a great ambiance, (nice view of the river and Oxford Terrace)). They have a great selection of craft beer and the list changes frequently, a must for beer lovers.“
Luvystypotables 2085 days ago
86 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“Stopped in here late on NYE 2018 (we had a flight the next morning and had just driven back from Mt. Cook). Staff reopened the kitchen and delayed last call for us. Also talked with me about what they had in the bottle cooler so that I could take a few interesting beers to the next stop (which is unlikely to have interesting beer). Selection itself was interesting by NZ standards (first place I saw beers above 6.9% in the south island) with everything i had in the good to excellent range. Their default is a half pint so you can geek out on the 14 taps to your heart's content. This is an excellent beer bar, especially for South Island NZ (best I found, keeping in mind that Pomeroy's was closed while I was there). Solid bar snacks too.“
WestCoastHawkeye 2090 days ago
68 /100 28 NEW REGENT ST
“They have a nice ambiance with a view of the street below. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, they have a small but good selection of beer.“
Luvystypotables 2094 days ago
54 /100
Amazonita (Restaurant)
126 OXFORD TERRACE
“A great restaurant with good food and good service. They also have a nice patio to sit and enjoy the ambiance, a limited selection of beer but some nice brews.“
Luvystypotables 2095 days ago
60 /100 130 OXFORD TERRACE
“Good food with a nice view of Oxford Terrace, a great place to sit on the patio and people watch. The food is good and the beer selection decent.“
Luvystypotables 2095 days ago
54 /100 14 OXFORD TERRACE
“A nice ambiance, especially the outdoor patio, good food and a decent selection of beer. Great place to watch sports or hang out with friends and shoot pool.“
Luvystypotables 2095 days ago
76 /100
The Beer Library (Beer Store)
363 COLOMBO ST
“The gift boxes of NZ beer here were a cute idea for someone without much exposure to the scene (I picked up a couple). Otherwise selection was decent if a bit narrow.“
WestCoastHawkeye 2097 days ago
70 /100 3 GARLANDS ROAD, WOOLSTON
“Decent service, tasting pours are around 8 oz which is definitely a surprise. Nothing that blew me away but lots of stuff that was perfectly cromulent. Not a destination or anything, but with Pomeroy's and Volstead not open yet, figured I'd check it out and didn't leave disappointed. Better restaurant than brewpub though - the food was legit excellent.“
WestCoastHawkeye 2097 days ago
94 /100 7 ST ALBANS ST
“Lovely relaxing craft beer bar with ample choices of beers to choose from. Friendly staff with excellent food menu“
BitterChalice26 2130 days ago
76 /100
The Beer Library (Beer Store)
363 COLOMBO ST
“Small shop with 5 growler taps, a few fridges of beer, some shelves of wine and gin and homebrew equipment. OK service. Nice place but not that many beers (though they had some rare but pricy imports). But I guess they get a lot of new beer in all the time. Pretty nice place overall though a little unfocused to Euro standards.“
Maakun 2225 days ago
78 /100 380 COLOMBO STREET
“Big very modern looking place. A few of their own beers, some guests and some kombucha they made on tap. This place is about all kinds of fermentation. Didn’t try the food but it seemed interesting. Very good service. Value is good for takeaway and large pours, less so for samples or half pints. Nice place, especially to sit outside on a sunny afternoon.“
Maakun 2225 days ago
74 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Classic pub vibe with rugby on the tv and a loud crowd of mostly middle aged men. 23 taps with craft beer which is a nice attraction here, only a few beers of their own. The food didn’t seem so interesting. Fast service, nice beer. Also some free bread and cheese Just not my kind of atmosphere.“
Maakun 2225 days ago
80 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“Spacious bar with a mix-match of old couches for seating. Also covered outdoor seating for smokers. 14 taps and 8 hand pulls. Lots of locals on, a cider, and a good range of bottles and cans in the fridge including craft cider. Staff seemed a little aloof. Prices were fair, they seem bight at first but they serve full pints, half pints were almost all $7 which is nice if you want to try different beers. Nice place.“
Maakun 2226 days ago
80 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Feels like a proper old English pub. Low ceilings and full of people. Huge number of taps, maybe four or five dedicated to the in house brewery and a few more to Beer Baroness who are essentially an in house brewery. Flights of four on offer. Great range. Plenty of South Island ticks available. Good place to visit.“
explosivedog 2307 days ago
78 /100
Fresh Choice Merivale (Grocery Store)
189 PAPANUI RD
“Visited Jan 2018 - This place deserves a higher rating, I assume things have changed since some of the older ratings were done (indeed this is the first new rating for nearly two years). Extensive selection of NZ craft available featuring all of the big hitters. Plenty of interesting stuff from Europe and the US too, I spotted Modern Times (USA) as well as Weird Beard and Moor (both UK) on the shelves among many others. For a supermarket it's great.“
alovelydrop 2380 days ago
78 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Visited January 2018 - really liked this place. Decent beer range and flights available. The inside of the pub is quite odd, a bit dated. The outdoor seating area was great though so if the weather is good I recommend sitting out. Great service from the lady on the bar too.“
alovelydrop 2380 days ago
70 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“32 beers on draft – most of them micro is definitely their force. Opening hours in a pub from 3 PM is a joke. No Wifi is a joke and the draft through the pub is not nice. Lots of beers brewed out back, all of good quality brewing wise, but not all hitting their style, and all pretty middle of the road, nothing crazy, no sour or DIPA. The place is supposedly old, but feels a bit fake, and living in Europe this is not old. Service is a bit slow. Best offer is the 32 draft beers and flights of 4 beers at 19 NZD. Inspite of it’s flaw I’ll pop in again next time I’m going to NZ (time permitting). Anyways the beer selection is a lot better than 7 years ago.“
Ungstrup 2403 days ago
70 /100 FERRY ROAD
“Nice with a tasting room in the brewhouse. Not many seats though. Upstairs you can overlook the brewery. 10 draft lines with some regulars, and some brand new. Besides that cans and bottles to take away. You can bring in take away food - they even have phone numbers for local take away places. The prices are just as at home in Denmark - which I find pricy when I travel - 7 NZD for a 25 cl glass of draft beer. Definately worth a visit“
Ungstrup 2404 days ago
86 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“Probably my favorite place in Chch. Nice atmosphere, always enjoy the selection (different every week), the food is good too. Staff not always the nicer or really helpful, but at least they do their job and knows about beer. Tap takeover are always good fun in this bar too !“
jujumaries 2417 days ago
74 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Well it's a good place, but never as amazing as I'm expected. always pretty crowded, so staff don't really have time for helping us to choose the beer, and the board lack of description for the beers. The selection is always pretty good, but never hugely exciting. Ok, to be fair, I'm just doing my hispter here, it's just because love it so much that it makes me being picky and looking into details. Still a good place to go, I just prefer Volstead, always prefer its selection, and the place is more tranquil“
jujumaries 2417 days ago
48 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“Beer was good, however the appearance of two mice scurrying below our and our children’s feet was not pleasant! While this is certainly not a slick modern bar it would have benefited from a decent clean. While I may sound pedantic I’ve been a huge number of beer bars across the world with my husband I’ve never come across anything quite like this!! Beer was good but would not return.“
llou 2455 days ago
82 /100 616/618 FERRY ROAD
“Love this place. So chill, great beer and guests. Would be the perfect local.“
jonno 2481 days ago
78 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Always a great visit in CHCH. A bit cramped when it is pumping, but lovely and mellow in the afternoon.“
jonno 2481 days ago
86 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“Great atmosphere in this industrial style unit behind Eagle Brewery. Huge range of beers, mostly NZ. 22 Taps available with a good range of beers. Anything from NZ lager to Smoked Scotch Ale. Did not try the food, but certainly worth a detour if you’re in the area.“
BeerLuvver 2760 days ago
72 /100
Liquor King Carlton (Beer Store)
17 PAPANUI RD
“A great selection of bottles and and 6 taps...“
Wirralbeerveg 2898 days ago
76 /100 10 POPLAR ST
“Good guest list on the taps ...and bottles...“
Wirralbeerveg 2899 days ago
72 /100
Liquor King Carlton (Beer Store)
17 PAPANUI RD
“Fine place to grab some brewsk. Small selection, but very high quality. Whole lineup from lots of awesome NZ breweries, including local ones. Nice staff and good ’biance. A good place to grab a couple ticks while in Chchch.“
nickd717 2920 days ago
78 /100 28 NEW REGENT ST
“Very small bar in New Regent St almost opposite ’The Last Word’ I really liked this place and went twice in 3 days (they were closed on Monday). Only a few beers on tap (and not that many bottles in the fridge either) but good quality and interesting. It’s very small so 10 people upstairs make the place seem full and noisy. The music playing the times I was there was indie/alternative stuff (e.g. some swampy nu-metal on Sunday night, ’The Tallest Man on Earth’ on Tuesday). Great beer, attentive informative staff and a really nice vibe. You can sit outside and watch the trams go by as well! Highly recommended.“
TedE 2920 days ago
82 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“Big pub on the very edge of the CBD but only a 15 minute walk from our hotel. It’s a sad walk past many vacant blocks waiting to be rebuilt but...Pomeroy’s lives on! Like an anti-Tardis it looks enormous from the outside but is oddly cramped inside (possibly because a jazz trio was playing the night we were there). Many, many beers to choose from (including their own). Food is really really good, the ambience terrific, and some staff are a little eccentric! What’s not to like. If you like beer and you have one night in Christchurch, go here.“
TedE 2920 days ago
60 /100 31 NEW REGENT ST
“Über cool bar in the nicest street in Christchurch. Really a whisky and spirits joint but has a few beers. Nice place to sit later in the evening, lovely ambience.“
TedE 2920 days ago
86 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“A really legit beer bar way down in the dirty south. Taps are essentially all NZ beers and represent a nice cross-section of stuff. The ambiance is like a British pub, really welcoming and comfortable. Live music sometimes. Food is well-done pub fare, really tasty. They also will hand out free bites of bread and cheese and the like around happy hour. If you’re down here in Chch, do not mess around - this should be your #1 go-to place.“
nickd717 2984 days ago
80 /100 292 KILMORE STREET
“2016-05-21. We underestimated how popular this place with be on a rainy Saturday night. Very cosy, it has a nice mix of seating and separate areas but it is VERY busy tonight. After standing at the bar for a bit we found some seats at the corner of the bar and made friends with a local. He later introduced us to the owner who was very friendly, as were the servers. They have a good tap list with a number of beers brewed in house. At one point a server brought by a platter of cheese and warm bread! (Apparently an effort to ensure people are not exceeding their alcohol intake according to our bar mate.) It was fantastic and took some effort to not take the entire tray! We ended up not staying as long as I would have liked. I think I would have liked to have come earlier in the day and spent more time here in hindsight. Great place.“
jercraigs 3009 days ago
72 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“2016-05-21. Interesting industrial garage type space with a mishmash of couches and tables "inside", open to outdoors with plastic flaps on the patio down on this rainy day. Cool murals on the wall, and back and white Mickey Mouse cartoons on the projector. The cartoons occasionally synchronuze with the bar music in entertaining ways. Food was pretty good - Fish goujons are ever so slightly underdone for my preference but tasty. Pulled pork sliders are very nice. The bartender was not particularly chatty/forthcoming with us when I asked him questions about the beers, but chatted with the folks sitting at the bar. Maybe I didn’t engage him enough, who knows. 8 or 9 hand pulls and similar number of taps - has a wide range, but not all of which are great. Solid bottle selection as well. There is quite a bit I like about it but I still end up feeling like I’d prioritize other places (e.g Pomeroy’s, Twisted Hop) in town over here. Recommended, but there is just something small about the overall impression that doesn’t quite grab my attention. “
jercraigs 3011 days ago
64 /100 43 RICCARTON ROAD
“2016-05-21. Seems to be a pretty standard chain store selection in NZ, with a good selection of NZ craft brews all stored chilled, including a few we hadn’t seen elsewhere but not many crazy rarities. Prices seemed competitive with other stores we had visited. Worth a look, close to Volstead Trading Co. “
jercraigs 3011 days ago
76 /100 FERRY ROAD
“2016-05-20. Pretty basic setup, 8-10 taps for growler and rigger fills, bottles as well. They had a good range of styles on offer. We chatted with the friendly guy behind the counter for quite a while and sampled several of their beers - hopefully we didn’t completely overstay our welcome. He gave us some great info on the brewery and their beers, as well as Christchurch in general. They aren’t really set up to sit down and have a beer but we sampled our way through a bunch of their offerings. Luggage restrictions meant we couldn’t really load up on bottles or riggers unfortunately but we enjoyed the beers we tried. Would definitely recommend a visit, very close to The Twisted Hop - Woolston and very accessible by bus.“
jercraigs 3011 days ago
76 /100 616/618 FERRY ROAD
“2016-05-20. Our visit was probably the worst way to experience this place. We had a long morning hike and spent much of the afternoon at Cassels & Sons, and arrived here just in time for a what seemed like a busy after work crowd. It feels like a ’proper pub’ as some might say. The bar itself feels very English with hand pumps and decor, nice mix of tables including a fireplace area and some seats out back on the patio if my memory is not mistaken. We opted for a table near the bar, and a sampler flight of mostly their house beers. The bartender came by later to chat and talk to us about the beers which seemed congenial. Solid tap list with their house offerings being generally pretty good, and some interesting guest taps. I’d like to come back at a quieter time and relax for a longer visit. Nice spot. “
jercraigs 3012 days ago
76 /100 3 GARLANDS ROAD, WOOLSTON
“2016-05-20. Nice spot, big open space in the main room, lots of big shared tables, smaller raised tables - which have backs on the chairs to support my ’old man back’! Friendly servers. Pizza was tasty, above average quality I’d say. Large patio space but we opted for indoors today. A bunch of their own beers on tap, as well as 3-5 guest taps, and 3 casks. Beers varied from quite nice to not to my taste at all. The largeness of the space has something about it that I might not care for usually, but I actually liked it better than some other places in town. I can’t entirely put my finger on why. Walking distance from Twisted Hop and Three Boys makes for a good day out.“
jercraigs 3012 days ago
72 /100 10 POPLAR ST
“2016-05-19. Huge bar spread across two or three floors, with an outdoor patio. 8 beers on tap tonight featuring six of their own beers. Beer prices seem to skew high on average, though not outrageous for NZ unfortunately. Large bottle fridge is impressive. Solid selection of NZ bottles and good number of US and other options - though some come at a steep premium. $9.50 for an order of fries did seem a bit pricey as well. Atmosphere inside is sort of upscale, brick walls, we are a bit under dressed. The patio is more casual but it’s just a bit too chilly for that tonight. The lack of a sampler tray option and the relatively steep pricing meant we didn’t stay as long as we might have. Decent spot but failed to catch our interest as much as some other places in town.“
jercraigs 3012 days ago
84 /100 55 RICCARTON RD
“A great ambiance with a great selection of beer. Pleasant music comfy chairs and good service.“
Luvystypotables 3078 days ago
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