Dodson Street Beer Garden

A serendipitous find in Blenheim. Mackenzie and I were hungry and I was thirsty after out early morning ferry. Not too far from Picton. Nice outside space and really nice interior - decor has a NZ meets Germany vibe, unsurprisingly. Home of Renaissance brewery, so half of their extensive taps are from them, the others tend to be locals as well. Great food too.

Old-fashioned German owned pub in German style with a soul, so different from modern plastic bars that serve craft beers at 2 degrees Celsius. My favourite pub in NZ.

Very large place, just outside of town. German vibe. Cool outdoor space. Only Renaissance beers on tap, but they must have had 25 different ones. My 200ml pours were HUGE. Good prices, friendly German staff.

Liked this place a lot. recommend the german food (owner is probably german, at least he looks like he is, and the german food was really good !). Beer selection, despite a high number of tap (15 or 20 ?) was a bit disappointing. Nothing truly amazing, but all pretty good.

Slightly tricky to find on the outskirts of Blenheim. Was looking forward to trying a good range of Renaissance beers as the brewery is right next door, and as recommended by Renaissance. I counted 22 taps, 2 with Hofbrau (as the owner is German), the rest with NZ ’craft’ beers. Only 5 Renaissance beers on draught ranging from a 2.2% Session PA to a 7.5% Scotch Ale. Tasting paddles vailable; just choose any 5 beers for NZ$10. Food selection is predominantly German with some English dishes and pizzas. Pretty average deep fired stuff etc. As this is an independent pub, they are under no obligation to carry any Renaissance beers so you just have to hope for the best, and that they will stay friendly neighbours.

I would like to live in Blenheim just to be able to frequent this place often. Fairly decent range of nice beers that I got on a tasting paddle of 5 beers. The pizzas were very nice although a bit pricey. Friendly (for a German :>) proprietor. English pub feel to interior, pleasant beer garden. Lots of space inside and out. Great place to get Renaissance beers fresh.

Visited on a Monday night and it was surprisingly busy considering it is down a suburban street on the outskirts of a small New Zealand provincial town. Excellent range of beer, happy informative staff and an open fire! For dinner my wife had pork schnitzel with hunter sauce and I had rouladen. Arguably the best food we had on our entire holiday. Great place.

Dropped by on a Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed a tasty meal with a few quenching beers in the garden. Selection and service were excellent - one of the best I experienced during a South Island trip. Highly recommended.

On the grounds of Renaissance Brewing is the Dodson Street Beer Garden, a German-themed restaurant/bar with over 20 taps that include a few one-offs. Inside you have a German Stube atmosphere with vaulted ceilings and long community tables, while outside they maintain a pretty grounds full of tables and benches and birdbaths and a giant chess set. Beer quality was decent though nothing I had seemed to wow me. Friendly hausfrau during my early afternoon visit was full of smiles and didn’t act inconvenienced in the least, which definitely reminds you that you’re drinking in New Zealand and not Germany. Certainly worth a stop if you’re in Marlborough.

This is a little piece of Deutschland on the South Island, not just because of the bierkeller and biergarten atmosphere and the traditional German food menu, but also because the proprietors hail from Germany. It’s basically the brewery tap for Renaissance and has a huge number from that range, with the brewery equipment visible through a window. Well worth a stop.