The Rogue & Vagabond is a craft beer bar on Garrett Street in Te Aro, central Wellington, built around two things: a constantly rotating line-up of New Zealand craft beer and a near-nightly calendar of live music. The tap list is the heart of the place — around sixteen beers pouring at any time, spanning porters, NZIPAs, APAs, pilsners, hazy pale ales, sour ales, pastry sours and more, from breweries including Garage Project, McLeod's, 8 Wired, Duncan's, Urbanaut, Te Aro Brewing, Kererū and Mean Doses.
Music runs deep here too. The gig listings cover Sunday jazz sessions, Wednesday evening sets from The Racket Lounge, brass bands, funk acts and ticketed shows presented upstairs at Bedlam and Squalor, with tickets sold through Undertheradar. Food keeps things simple: the current menu lives on the bar's Instagram, and Punk Wing Wednesdays — wings by the piece or a dozen with a pint, from 5pm until sold out — are the fixed weekly institution.
Whether you come for a specific band, work your way through whatever is on tap, or time your week around wings and Wednesday pints, the formula is the same: fresh beer, live sound, and no two visits quite the same.
On Garrett Street in Te Aro, The Rogue & Vagabond has built its name on two simple promises: there is always something interesting in the glass, and there is almost always someone playing. It's a craft beer bar in the truest sense — the beer list isn't a fixed menu but a living board, updated tap by tap as kegs kick and new brews come on. Pair that with a run of live gigs that fills most evenings of the week, from Sunday jazz to full-band shows, and you get one of those bars that functions as a genuine piece of Wellington's music and drinking culture rather than just a place to stop for a pint.
The clearest expression of the bar's character is its "On Tap Now" list. At any given moment there are around sixteen beers pouring, and they span a remarkable range of styles: porters, NZIPAs, APAs, pilsners, hazy pale ales, low-carb XPAs, sour ales, pastry sours, lagers and even a ginger beer with mandarin. The brewery names read like a who's-who of New Zealand craft — Garage Project, McLeod's Brewery, 8 Wired, Duncan's, Urbanaut Brewing Co, Te Aro Brewing, Kererū Brewing, Mean Doses and Neck of the Woods, alongside pours from Hawke's Bay.
The strengths are just as varied, from a 3.8% session hazy built for a long afternoon to an 8.0% boysenberry and apple crumble pastry sour that behaves more like dessert. Because the list turns over constantly, regulars treat the website's On Tap page as a pre-drink ritual: check what's pouring, then decide when to head in. If you have a style you love — or one you've been meaning to try — odds are good it will appear on these taps at some point in the rotation.
Music is the other half of the story. The gig calendar is busy and genuinely eclectic: Sunday jazz sessions at 5pm, The Racket Lounge holding down Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm, brass bands, funk outfits and singer-songwriters filling out the rest of the week. Some gigs are walk-in; others — particularly the shows presented upstairs at Bedlam and Squalor — are ticketed, with links through Undertheradar to buy in advance. If you're planning a night around a specific act, it pays to check the listing and grab a ticket early.
Musicians and bookers have a direct line too: music and gig enquiries go to [email protected], and a stage gear list is available to download from the contact page — which tells you something about how seriously the room takes its live sound.
On the food side, the bar keeps things simple and points you to its Instagram (@rogueandvagabond) for the current menu. The one fixed institution is Punk Wing Wednesdays: from 5pm each Wednesday, wings are available by the piece or by the dozen with a pint, and they run until they're gone — "until sold out" is printed right on the menu page, which is as clear a hint as any to arrive hungry and arrive early.
You'll find The Rogue & Vagabond at 18 Garrett St, Te Aro, in central Wellington. General enquiries go to [email protected], and the bar stays active on Facebook and Twitter, where gig announcements and tap updates land first. There's also a Merch & Stuff page if you want to take a piece of the place home.
Come for a specific gig and stay for the taps, or come for the taps and discover a band you'll follow for years — either way, the formula works. Check the On Tap Now list before you head in, keep Wednesday free for wings, and save your Sunday evening for jazz at five.