Preview time

The paint's dry, the taps are working and an eftpos terminal miraculously appeared late on Friday. If the business was software we'd be in beta testing. So since the middle of last week (Aug 26) we've been letting customers in. Not everything is working yet, but beer lovers are well looked after.

It was appropriate that the first customers were the Beervana volunteers, who patiently waited while the first four taps came to life.

On tap now are:

Emerson's Pilsener

Epic Pale Ale

Renaissance Elemental Porter

Hofbrau Weissbier

Harringtons Monsoon

Three Boys IPA

Emerson's Bookbinder

Mussel Inn Captain Cooker.

Waiting in the storeroom are Three Boys Pils, Three Boys Wheat and Renaissance Stonecutter. And thanks to Beervana we've had the brewers of almost all of those beers through the doors as well.

I'll think up some comments soon about the experience that was Beervana 2009.

Anyone in Wellington who's inclined to come in, please do. We're opening the doors at 5pm every day.

Crimewatch

Another watershed. Our first crime and it was before we've even opened. Our friend wandered in as if he owned the place and started looking for something to steal. The fact that we confronted him, asked him what he was doing and continued to watch every movement didn't stop him finding the nearest bottle, picking it up and taking off. It didn't occur to him that one of us might be armed with a camera phone and be pissed off enough to chase him for as long as it took to get a good shot.

And here it is:

Cutting a hole in the tunnel to let the light in

Joking aside, it's all coming together in dozens of small but frantic steps. Taps are on their way in, as is a heat pump, TV, Sky, flooring, leaners, the enomatic system, artwork, glassware... a couple of pieces left but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Baird Beer

Baird Brewery (recently voted the best craft brewery in Japan at http://forum.beerinjapan.com) are packing their first shipment to Hashigo Zake. This is a huge coup for us, not least because the brewery is in the process of opening only their third outlet - the Harajuku Taproom.

We'll be getting most of the brewery's year round beers, including the beer that sustained me through three years in Japan - Rising Sun Pale Ale. To top it off, Bryan is throwing in a small amount of Rainy Season Black Ale and Harajuku Celebration Ale. As good as the year round beers are, it is seasonals such as these that really get their regular customers in Japan excited, so we hope that there will be more of these to come in future shipments.

It's unlikely that this shipment will arrive in time for Beervana. This might be a good thing as I don't want to be cleaned out of rare and special imports on two days in August. But we'll mark its arrival in Wellington with a fitting celebration in September. Stay tuned.

Order #1 unloaded

Watershed day today. On a gloriously sunny late winter's day in Wellington, 75 cases of the finest output of Nøgne Ø, Meantime, Flying Dog and Rogue were lovingly de-palleted and hand carried down the stairs to their home for the next three or so weeks. We also started making a few of the minor alterations to the interior that we think will make the bar more spacious and comfortable. Please excuse the grainy camera-phone picture.