Popular jazz and blues festival inspires new brew

The New Zealand International Jazz & Blues Festival has inspired a boutique Christchurch brewery to create a new ale specially for beer and music lovers.

The Twisted Hop plans to unveil its new brew, called Improvisation Pale Ale, at the festival’s popular Taste Blues and Taste Jazz event in Poplar Lane, central Christchurch, on Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11.

The beer is an American Style Pale Ale which uses locally grown and malted barley from Dunsandel hopped with American varieties. Like some of the best jazz, it is an improvised recipe and only seven barrels of it have been brewed.

"The way local artisan producers have got behind Taste Blues and Taste Jazz this year is fantastic," says festival director Jodi Wright.

"They’ve really tuned into what the event is about and have come up with some innovative ways to tantalise people’s taste buds and complement the musical fare on offer. I think the two-day event is going to be one of the highlight of the festival."

Taste Jazz and Taste Blues was held for the first time last year to give people an opportunity to enjoy live music in a relaxing café-style environment in one of Christchurch’s most distinctive shopping precincts. It was so successful that this year it has been expanded into a two day event, with live blues music on Saturday April 10 and live jazz music on Sunday, April 11.

"Last year’s event created such a vibe that we wanted to expand on that and give as many people as possible the chance to relax and enjoy the music, the atmosphere, the food, and of course, the beer," Ms Wright says.

Monday, April 5, marks the start of the annual New Zealand International Jazz & Blues Festival.

For ticketing information and more details about the festival programme log onto www.jazzfestivalnz.com.

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