Swill Cutlure plus hysterical hype

Councillor wants Dunedin bottle ban

31 August 2006
A Dunedin councillor has called for the banning of bottled beer in the city, saying such a move would deprive the "Hizbollah of the South" from a supply of missiles.

Cr Lee Vandervis has proposed the new bylaw to curb street violence, which led to 56 students getting arrested two weekends ago, the Otago Daily Times reported.

"Getting rid of the of the missiles would obviously be a very sensible thing to do. It would save hundreds of thousands of dollars in clean-up costs and, most importantly, improve safety on the streets," he said
from stuff.co.nz

Wines for Swines

Even the world of wine suffers from the same kind of media buffoonery that is typically reserved for beer writing.  

Swirling the glass helps you get a good sniff - and can also make you look a bit of a wanker…

Don't miss your chance to make bawdy comments about the wine's "legs".

Why do these idiots insist on leaving out the decent information on how to get the most out of your wine, while inserting so many inane humourless jokes?  I guess it’s to shield the fact that they are writing an article on something that they know very little about.  How about some answers in the article (e.g. Why do we swirl the glass?  What causes the “legs”? What sort of glass is best? What temperature should you serve at?).

It’s always interesting to see that these puff pieces often have no author attributed.  This one, at least, has a source – Sydney Morning Herald.  The editor should be ashamed, as should Stuff for publishing this on their site.

Full story.  Or for more worthwhile read: a full article on how to rate beer.

Slainte mhath
Stu

Where to stumble to...

I've updated maps.realbeer.co.nz so that it looks a bit nicer and differentiates between different types of venues. There have been a lot of changes to the underlying map service, and all the coordinates have had to be converted. I'd really appreciate any feedback, corrections, or additions.

There are some cool features planned, but I'd like to get the locations as accurate and as complete as possible before unleashing the next version.

Edit: Blogger just ate my comments, so thanks to Ian for the catch, and to James in Wellington for reminding me about Bodega, Bar Edward, and the Malthouse, as well as Rumbles. Keep 'em coming.

NZ Beer Tasting Series

Stephen Plowman of Hallertau Brewbar is hosting a series of beer tastings covering a wide range of NZ beers from different styles.  It’s a great chance for those at the northern end of the country to meet up, taste some rare and hard to find beers, and to spend some time with a brewer.

Session 1: Porters and Stouts, Sat 26 Aug at 4pm, $16

• Emerson’s London Porter


• Three Boy’s Brewery Porter


• Limburg Porter


• Invercargill Pitch Black Stout


• Emerson’s Oatmeal Stout


• Brewmoon Dark Side Stout

Stephen has also invited home brewers to bring along their own creations for feedback from the group.  It’s probably a good idea to bring your dark ales this week and compare them to some of the best examples in the country.

Further details of the beer tasting series has been posted in the RealBeer forum.

For those who attend the tasting series, please post your thoughts on Ratebeer and let other beer enthusiasts and brewers know how the beers compare.

I wish I could be there to join in the fun.

Slainte mhath
Stu

Old Speckled Hen Loses Weight

The famous speckled one is about to lose some weight, it seems: Greene King is lowering the alcoholic strength of Old Speckled Hen from 5.2 per cent to 4.5 per cent in a bid to boost sales.  By dropping the ABV, the team behind the changes expect that drinkers will see it as more accessible and less as an occasional treat.
I’m not sure at all how this will work but: Greene King has promised that while the alcohol content of Old Speckled Hen will be lower, the taste, ingredients and brewing process are not altered.
See the full story at The Publican.

Here’s hoping that Cock and Bull Monk’s Habit, Emerson’s Bourbon Porter, Renaissance Stonecutter, Galbraith’s Resurrection and other New Zealand strong beers don’t follow suit.

Bodega Banter

Fraser McInnes, well known owner of Bar Bodega in Wellington featured on Kim Hill's "Saturday Morning" show last week. He talks about beer history, beer styles, food and beer, and a bit about the beer scene in New Zealand and the upcoming BrewNZ and New Zealand Bar Show events. At least, he does when he can get a word in edgeways!

For the dedicated foodies, there's also the recipe Fraser discussed.

New Zealand beers hop over to Shanghai

We understand it's kind of sad, but we have to admit to getting a little excited when we learn of new foreign beers arriving on the Shanghai market. So we read with curious interest these two stories about two New Zealand beers that have washed up on our shores. The brewery is DB Breweries, a big outfit that owns the likes of Heineken and Amstel. The beers they are sending to Shanghai are Tui and Monteith's Original Ale. Here are the commercial descriptions for the two beers:

Full Story - including comments

Where they really do love their beer

So there's an established drinking whakapapa there and in the seven years the Malthouse has been operating, they've developed their tastes to the extent that it now boasts the largest range of tap beers in Australasia and gazillions of bottled beers to choose from, too.

The tap range includes everything from your DB Draught and Monteiths to Tuatara Porter, Monk's Habit, Hopsmacker and Tetley's English Ale.

Full Story

DB gets beer order from China

An order for New Zealand beer in China is seen as showing the way for this country's food and drink producers keen to crack the fast-growing Chinese market.

DB Breweries has shipped half a container of Monteith's and Tui beers to Shanghai after landing orders through a promotion organised by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).

Full Story

Batemans runs out of beer

A Lincolnshire brewery is running out of beer because of high demand caused by the recent hot weather.

Bateman's Brewery based at Wainfleet All Saints said this summer's World Cup had also increased demand.

"We have been hit by some very large wholesale orders," Stuart Bateman from Bateman's said.

Full Story

Mallon Plugs Hole

Further details of the Wellington Beer Festival, that coincides with BrewNZ, have been revealed in Capital Times.
The NZ Beer Show will be held in two sessions, from 10.30am-2pm, and 3pm-6pm, downstairs at the Old Bank Arcade on September 9. While 10.30am may seem early for a first drink, there are plenty of beer enthusiasts keen to start tasting at morning tea time.
I’m sure there will be plenty of “enthusiasts” to join me for morning tea Saturday morning.

Slainte mhath
Stu

Beer Polling

Just received this from a concerned reader:

"I was rung up by [a large survey company] for a beer survey last night. They asked me what beers I had drunk in the previous week but refused to note down anything other than the output of Lion, DB, Mac's and Monteith's. I was trying to put across that I had drunk Emersons, Tuatara, Limburg, Cock and Bull but they weren't interested..."

Does anyone know if this common practice?

Action in the Ale Files

Here are the links to three new articles in the Ale Files:

Wellingtonian Newspaper Column about Mac's

A bumper Belgian beer tasting

An efficient and effective tasting at the Treasury.

Cheers

Neil

The Great British Beer Festival - One man's view

Revolution a-Brewing
By Andrew Ian Dodge

"Earl's Court in London has seen many a famous rock and pop gig. Last week, the venue hosted the Great British Beer Festival, an event I visit every year to sample beers from all over the UK and beyond. But the GBBF is more than just a big beer-tasting party; it's a mass rebellion against the regulatory monsters the UK and EU have become.

Beer drinkers don't hold marches or have demos in central London to get attention. They merely get together, enjoy themselves and let the rest of the world alone. Wouldn't it be nice if the regulators and teetotalers returned the favor?"

Read the full article here.

Glass tip - The Aloof Shong Mau

City tries to ban drinkers from standing at the bar

From the bulging Nanny State files courtesy of The Times...

"Backed by the local NHS primary care trust, Preston police want a “no standing” drinking rule imposed on the city by the autumn; they want customers to be served only if they have a seat...

Publicans have dismissed the scheme as impractical. Ryan Wood, manager of Yates’s pub, said: “They have completely missed the point. If anything it is going to cause more friction because people are not going to like being told to sit down every five minutes. It’s almost impossible to enforce.”

There is only one incontrovertible advantage to addling the brain with alcohol while seated. It’s less far to fall."

Read the full article here.

Glass Tip - Flash

Beer and Politics Do Mix

A Toast to Dissent
Activist beer makers deliver politics in a bottle
—By Leif Utne, Utne magazine

Politics and alcohol have been intimate friends for centuries. Galvanizing figures from Samuel Adams to Adolf Hitler built their movements in pubs and beer halls long before taking over the halls of power. Even "The Star-Spangled Banner" was adapted from an old drinking song. Now a growing number of brewers are using beer itself to make a political point...

Read the full article here

Glass tip - Kate

Cracking a DB Draught never sounded so good!

DB Draught’s ‘Sounds Good’ radio campaign has claimed the title as “New Zealand’s Best Radio Ad of the Year” at the 2006 Radio Bureau Grande ORCA awards.

The ‘Sounds Good’ campaign was created by leading creative advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, whose creatives were tasked with the job of making DB Draught sound as good as it tastes.

The result was a commercial that cut through the radio clutter, cleverly using sound effects and sound tracks to support embellished tales of mates enjoying convivial times.

Full Press Release

Listen to MP3 - (995kB)

Coca-Cola to sell beer

Coca-Cola Amatil Chief Executive Terry Davis said the move into premium beers was a natural extension of its existing range of non-alcoholic beverages in the hotel, restaurant and cafe market.

"When they are combined with SABMiller's world-class marketing capabilities and CCL's strong customer relationships, salesforce and distribution capabilities, you have a very solid platform to expand the premium beer offering in the Australian market," Davis said.

The joint venture will compete mainly with the premium beer offerings of Australia's two biggest brewers, Foster's Group Ltd. (FGL.AU) and Lion Nathan Ltd. (LNN.AU). Privately-owned Coopers Brewery also has a strong foothold in the fast-growing market.

Full Story

BEER PRODUCTION - NZ TOTALS

FOR THE JUNE 2006 QUARTER
ALE, BEER AND STOUT, ALL TYPES LITRES
Bottled - under 400ml 32,896,000
Bottled - over 400ml 4,473,000
Canned 17,441,000
Tap (Bulk) 18,569,000
Total 73,380,000

A bit of foam makes your beer taste better

"As the CO2 (carbon dioxide) rises in the glass, the beer will capture some of the hop aroma, and the foam releases this aroma," Koch says. The more protein in the beer, the more sizable and durable the head.

Full Article

Now We're Cooking...

Beer isn't just for drinking, as these recipes demonstrate.

Food and beer - does one go with the other, or the other with one?  Recent debate at the RealBeer forum was divisive.

This ‘Cooking with Beer’ article, at Stuff, doesn’t really demonstrate all that much.  It mostly shows us that the NZ media tends to prefer re-hashing something from Australia, rather than forking out a similar amount of cash for something more local, inspired and relevant from the likes Geoff Griggs or Neil Miller.

Oh well, I guess it’s better than no article at all and at least they steered clear of that most famous of beer adjectives: “swilling”.  Carl Hadler, via the same site, proves that there is something original happening in the NZ food and beer matching scene.  Let’s see more please.

Slainte mhath
Stu

Perfect Winter Warmer

Geoff Griggs writes:  Emerson’s Bourbon Porter is a sumptuous dark brew in which the creamy texture, dark chocolate and roasty malt flavours and floral hop character of the London Porter have married seamlessly with the alcoholic piquancy, oak flavours and inherent sweetness of the bourbon.

The full history of Emerson’s spectacular Bourbon Porter is online now at Capital Times.

Best of Britain

The market dominance of the new breed of Golden Ales in the UK looks set to continue. Brewers Gold, brewed by Crouch Vale of Essex, has just been judged the best beer in Britain.  For an incredible second consecutive year, a panel of brewers, beer writers and journalists, whittled down the individual category winners, in a blind tasting, to announce Brewers Gold as the top beer in the land.  

The only other beer to win the title twice is the esteemed Timothy Taylor’s Landlord (1994 and 1999).

More at CAMRA’s website, plus a full list of category medalists and past winners are also there.

Beer Is Good For You

…findings provide evidence of a cardioprotective effect and survival benefit of light to moderate alcohol consumption among older people," said the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This news, at Stuff, tells us all what we already knew: beer is good for you.

Beer Tastings on This Week - with Luke Nicholas

Wednesday 2nd - Hamilton Wine Co. "Beer Club" at Diggers from 5pm Belgian Beers with Luke

Thursday 3rd - The Malthouse, Epic Pale Ale tasting with Luke Nicholas (and some Monk's Habit) both available on tap.

Saturday 5th - Regional Wines, Epic Pale Ale tasting instore with Luke Nicholas

More

Cheers
Luke

Two More from Three Boys

A few months back I spent a late-summer afternoon tasting the first three beers for the Three Boys Brewery and then used this forum to help spread the word.  In the last month or so I’ve tasted the latest two releases from the same brewery – an American-styled IPA and a limited-release Oyster Stout.

The golden IPA is rose-tinted with hints of honey, lemony herbs and strawberry on the nose.  It’s well balanced, in the mouth, with a touch of grapefruit, more herbs, a delicate sulphurous yeast note and a long bitter finish.  It’s a very well made IPA that is not too challenging – this could well make it a big seller.  

The inky Oyster Stout has a burnt nose with an underlying caramel sweetness.  The same malt characteristics show through in the mouth, where it’s a little light for me, and are followed by an exceedingly long roasty finish.  Nice plummy notes linger with a woodiness on the palate.  Like the Porter, I’d like to see a little more bulk in the malt department to balance the roasty notes.

For more opinions on the Three Boys beers check Ratebeer or Stuff.

Slainte mhath
Stu

DB launches German wheat beer

Kiwis with a taste for specialty beer will be doubly cheerful in September. That’s when DB launches Germany’s Erdinger wheat beer in New Zealand – just in time for Oktoberfest.

The Erdinger Brewery produces only wheat beers and all of it is brewed only in Erding which is close to Munich in the heart of Bavaria.

DB is launching Erdinger in September and is promising it will initially be available on tap from 40 outlets.

Full Release