On a recent short break to New Caledonia my hopes were high for some winter sunshine, but rather lower for searching out a decent local beer. This chic, French speaking, tropical island is under a three hour flight from Auckland and the strong Gallic influence means imported French wine is de rigueur. Our tour was based on a circular trip around the south of the island and excluded the capital Noumea as a base, in an attempt to experience more rural, rustic charms.
First stop was the imposing Auberge du Mont Khogi, perched on the mountainside above Dumbea, 30km south east of Tontouta Airport. We chose the more affordable self-contained wooden lodge option in the grounds bordering the lush forest park. The Auberge itself has a Swiss chalet-style theme and has a very well appointed restaurant bar offering superb views to the coast. The ‘pression’ beers were the Number 1 pale lager at 5% from Grande Brasserie de Nouvelle-Caledonie (Heineken) and imported Kronenbourg 1664 (Carlsberg) at 5.5% and France’s number one selling beer. The former is pleasant enough and went well with the fish of the day.
We then travelled west on the RP3 via the Parc de la Riviere Blue and Yate township, before heading south on increasingly potholed roads, to arrive at the Kanua Tera Ecolodge, which is situated at the beautiful Port Boise Bay. All accommodation is in comfortable traditional style thatched bungalows and the restaurant bar was once again of a very good standard. Alongside Number 1 and Kronenbourg 1664 on tap, was another locally-brewed pale lager called Manta, which I felt had slightly more body and character to it than its Noumea rival.
The bottled selection included two interesting Belgian imports - Grimbergen Blonde and Dubbel – brewed by Brasserie Union (Alken-Maess/Heineken). The Blonde at 6.7% is an ochre coloured top fermented Abbey Beer that uses Gatinais barley malt to create a nicely balanced beer with a fruity malty taste. I had a dish of curried prawns with it, which, although perhaps not a perfect match, was still very enjoyable, if a bit messy! The Dubbel, Cuvee Ambree weighs in at 6.6% and has undergone two fermentations, which gives this ale a chocolatey, toffee taste with a warming brandy-like finish. This went down a treat with the mouille du chocolat dessert.
Our route then took us west to the RP2 via La Madeleine waterfall and a large windfarm sprouting out of the ruddy volcanic dirt, then onto the straggly Mont Dore township and eventually Noumea. After visiting the excellent and spectacular Cultural Arts Centre, it was time to head across town to Baie des Citrons in order check out a one-liner comment from the Trip Advisor website about Les 3 Brasseurs Bar on the waterfront. This 8 hectolitre microbrewery bar exceeded expectations, not least by the fact that it actually existed on an island populated predominantly by wine and to a lesser extent, lager drinkers.
Presented with a formidable choice of drinking vessels from ‘Le Demi’ (25cl), through ‘Le Formidable’ (100cl), to ‘Le Metre’ (a 10 x 25cl palette!), I opted for a more sensible 4 x 15cl tasting palette of the four permanent house beers. These comprised a White, Blonde, Amber and a Scotch. Whilst none were standout and all lacked a little hop character, they were representative of style and quite drinkable. Great to see the locals enjoying the Blanc, this being la bière, rather than le vin. The current special was a World Cup brew called Biere du Mondial, a variant of the Ambree. The staff speak good English, which is a rarity, a range of reasonably priced pub food is available and there is live blues-jazz music on weekend evenings.
A shop at one of the large Leader supermarkets failed to yield a decent selection of bottled or canned beers, the majority being variants of mass produced, French export market brands, such as Biere d’Alsace (Heineken). So to our final resting place - Resort Rivland - situated close to the Baie de Gadgi, near the west coast town of Paita and therefore handy for airport departures. Once again, good quality food, accommodation, facilities and service. Once again the standard ‘pression’ beers, but this time with the welcome addition of a choice of two of the bottled Leffe (InBev) beers. The Blond at 6.6% is a pale abbey beer, with a full, sunny, golden colour. The smooth and full bodied taste matched surprisingly well with a tasty smoked ham salad. The Brune at 6.5% is maybe not a classic dubbel, but has a discernable aroma of fruits, spice and caramel. The flavour is sweet, dominated by the malts, but the yeast is also clearly present giving a hint of banana, so this made for dessert on its own!
Although New Caledonia is easily accessible, it has to rate as a very expensive holiday destination, with the price of a standard 50cl tap beer topping the $15 mark. However, it was worth it primarily for securing a few days escape from those Wellington southerlies and also for improving my daughter’s spoken French! Discovering Les 3 Brasseurs Brewbar was an unexpected bonus.
Salut!