Wellington based craft beer connoisseurs Fortune Favours have teamed up with SkyCity to bring their famous beers to the heart of Auckland city. Located on Federal street, in the heart of the SkyCity entertainment precinct, running from Thursday to Saturday until the end of April, the pop up bar Fortune on Fed will be open to keep you hydrated throughout the summer alongside fresh food from SkyCity’s award winning steakhouse The Grill.
Renowned for a staple range of craft beer alongside a rotating schedule of exciting and experimental brews, we sat down with CEO of Fortune Flavours, Shannon Thorpe to see what Aucklanders can expect.
How did Fortune Favours get started?
I am originally from Auckland, where I spent 15 years in the business and marketing side of beer. I always dreamed of doing it for myself and fortunately I knew a few guys down in Wellington who owned a few bars and convinced them to give me a shot.
Where does the name come from?
Well like I said, I took a risk. I moved cities, I invested a lot into it and as the old saying goes, fortune favours the bold, fortunes favours the brave.
So how did the pop up on Federal Street come about?
So CCA (Coca Cola Amatil) are our distributors, and they also have a relationship with SkyCity, so they kind of acted like the middleman and got us in contact. There was an opportunity to add even more life to the bustling Federal Street, so the opportunity was there to try something new. And SkyCity were happy to back us and get something really cool off the ground
Any chance of something more permanent?
We are always looking to grow the brand nationally so of course we keep our eyes on any opportunities. This pop up came together really quickly, and everyone did an amazing job with it but if we were to look at staying up here more permanently we would want to really create something special. This gives people a taste of what we are about.
What can people expect from the brews?
We have our core range of beers, an IPA, a pale ale, a pilsner, and a lager. These are really the staples of any craft beer range. We then tend to have two or more rotational taps which feature more experimental brews. Over our four years we have brewed over 100 beers, so we are always looking to do new things and push the envelope a little, but those more classic flavours are always there too.
What rotational taps will people find at the pop up?
Our Leed Street estate which comes back every summer by popular demand. It’s a rosé wine version of a beer. Lightly soured, with raspberries to colour and flavour it. There’s also our wheat beer ‘Beach Coma’ and our hazy pale ale ‘Sunny Disposition’. All really great summery beers.
What would you recommend to someone who is new to craft beer?
That’s sort of our sweet spot. We aren’t trying to be beer geeks or too standoffish, we really want to be accessible and help open up this craft beer world to people. But it all depends on what their current go to is. For those who tend to go for your green bottle beers we would usually recommend our Trailblazer hoppy lager or Adventurer Pilsner, which uses the same hops as many of those. We are always excited to introduce craft to new people so I would say go up and talk to the bartender, don’t be afraid to discuss with them and find what is going to be a good starting point for you.
What’s your favourite beer currently?
It changes every other day! Over summer I've been loving our trailblazer, super hoppy and refreshing. As the colder months roll around I tend to shift more to a dark beer, like our Wellingtonian, which is our most popular.
Fortune on Fed, here for a good time not a long time.
Open Thursdays to Saturdays from 4pm til late
91 Federal St, SkyCity Auckland
See more details, here.
