Volstead Trading Company

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 !

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.

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.

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.

A great ambiance with a great selection of beer. Pleasant music comfy chairs and good service.

Was in Christchurch for a conference, and went to this place three times with my labmates. Great food (a labmate had the best Quesadillas he’d ever had) from the pop-up stand outside, great prices, and the best selection of craft beer I saw anywhere around. If you’re in Christchurch, it’s well worth the visit!