Farewell Sweet Friends
Not everyone is happy with the re-branding and consolidation exercise that Mac’s have just gone through. Aaron Watson of the Capital Times laments. The new Mac's range can be checked out at their new website - www.macs.co.nz.
Thankfully he can drown his sorrows with an Emerson’s APA, a beer he describes as a ‘corker’, and ‘strikingly aromatic’.
Now where did I put my low-carb lager???
posted by Stu as "Stu" at 6:37 am
16 Comments:
It would be less galling if the labels on the new beers didn't go on about Mac's basically creating the Craft Brewing scene in NZ and saying how much flavour they have. They seem to be on a crusade to erase the flavour from their products and replace it with marketing. It reminds me of the washed up rapper, putting out ever more expensively produced albums, with really nothing at all of relevance left to say. Sad Mac's. Also, if they are so proud of craft brewing, why sell out to Lion Nathan? "Hey, we made new and different beer, but show us the money and we'll pack it all in and produce bland crap that looks nice on the supermarket shelves." Good effort Mac's - I hope you're proud. Damnit, I'm just getting angry typing this now. Tell you what Mac's, make a great beer (and not just an "ok" one like Sassy Red - it's only great in comparison to the rest of the mainstream) and not only will I forgive you, I'll sing your praises.
Greig - speaking for myself and myself alone.
Agree 100%. Just one more step in the slide towards Monteithsness. Macs used to be a shining bastion of craft, I remember when they sold out to LN, they proclaimed that LN wasn't going to have anything to do with the brewing, only the marketing and distribution. That kept us buying for a while, but then the beers started to get blander, they dropped the Real Ale (was a personal favourite) and now this push towards generic theme bars and a contrived marketing driven commodity.
Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I would have to say the change in yeast is a real pleasure. that old crappy yeast strain that they used in combination with the Nelson Sauvin hop nearly made me gag.
Best Mac's beer on tap No.8
Most Improved - Black Mac
Most interesting - Great White, even when it is bright as and has no white
Most surprising - Mac's gold - actually tasted pretty good.
Most underwhelming - Hopsmacker, where are the hops, it is too sweet
shit sorry Limburg, I meant to say Hop Rocker.
And I tell you that font macs are using drives me crazy, it is so annoying that you just can't be bothered reading all the dribble they have on the label
had anyone ever heard that Mac's never actually brewed the Real Ale, it was just a blend of Gold and Black?
Quite correct anonymous, Real Ale was indeed a blend of the other two beers.
Sorry to disagree but I for one think the current Mac's range is the best ever. Do you really want to go back to the days of the original Mac's Gold and Real Ale (both extremely boring beers), the sugared Mac's Extra and the thin, wishy washy, Black Mac???
In my opinion since LN took control they've cleaned up the beers no end and the new brews have shown a gradual improvement.
As far as I'm concerned to compare Mac's with Monteith's is grossly unfair and totally unwarranted.
And no, I'm not a LN employee!!!
I'd agree too that the Mac's beers have massively improve in this new line up. Also agree you can't line them up against Monteith's. Monteith's range of beers seems to be a range of colors, on a similar base flavor, and then there is the girlie flavors they add. If they want to make Monteith's RTD's they should just get on with it and try not to pretend they are real beers. Monteith's has lost its soul, it is now just a brand, its not about the beer.
Back to Mac's though they really need to be true to themselves the new labelling and bullshit on the label nearly puts to of the beer. The beer is good, the new advertising is crap. If we could have Mac's beer in a Monteith's bottle (brand) I think that would be the best of both worlds.
anonymous - care to un-anonymise, just so we can confirm you're not a LN employee? ;)
I agree that LN have cleaned up the beers. I'm not sure that's a good thing though, I like my beer to have a bit of character!
I also think that back in the days of Gold and Real Ale, the landscape was very different. The beers were judged against their peers and found to be flavourful. If you consider their peers now to be the Limburg range, the Emerson's range, Tuatara, Epic... well, lets just say they have a lot of work to do. As I said originally, I'm not going to hold a grudge, or hate them simply because they are owned by LN. I've just spent some time arguing why we SHOULDN'T be anti-LN (but by all means, be anti-the swill they produce) on the SOBA mailing list. All they have to do to win my trust and favour is to make a great beer - something their marketing claims they aim to do anyway. Shouldn't be hard, right?
"Oh, and another thing..." ;)
I really couldn't care less how the product looks. I suspect that with package design you will never please everyone, and there will always be those that love it and those that hate it. It's probably good to have some balls and provoke a strong reaction to something rather than go with a wishy washy design so as not to offend people. I'll give them a gold star for at least having some balls in that respect. Now... make good beer, damnit! :)
To be honest I couldn't give a flying monkey's crotch piece about the decline of Mac's range of beers, sure they did a lot to heighten the image of craft brewing years ago but I find their range to be insipid rubbish, can anyone in a blind tasting really tell the difference between Mac's gold and Export gold? Is Mac’s black just fizzy black water? I'm more upset about the loss of the old Wellington brewery beers sultry dark, wicked blonde and verboden vice (and I really
hope they haven't changed sassy red since the clear out, I’m too scared to try it). These beers had true character and flavour and as Greig says were “able to be judged against their peers and found to be flavourful” It looks to me like LN has decided to profit maximise and these beers obviously didn’t perform….....yet again bad luck for the true beer lover.
Oh and the labelling....for Pete’s sake purchase beer for the flavour!
I agree whole heartly with blogger "Kempicus" you seem to really know your beers unlike these other bloggers!
I enjoy the Sassy Red and up until recently enjoyed the Verboden Vice (the Great White seems to be missing the strong Corriander tones that I once enjoyed, it now tasted like a cross between Export Gold and a washed out wheat beer).
And your right about this label business too.....are you single? You sound quite gorgeous!
Oh and the labelling....for Pete’s sake purchase beer for the flavour!
Oh no ! Beer for the Right reasons !
I quite like the Hop Rocker. Once you get past the shocking name, there's this nice orange and herbal hop flavour with a lovely mellow sweetness. I prefer it, though only just, over either Reserve or Wicked Blonde. I do love the Sauvin. I imagine it would taste fantastic straight out of the conditionining tank (before they kill it off and put the appropriate make up on it to make it look alive again).
are they even brewing in nelson anymore or is it all at Christchurch and Auckland?
So I guess from reading the above a large commercial brewery will get support from "good" beer drinkers if they actually made "good" beer with flavour.
Shame it is only a few people in this country that actually care what their beer tastes like. The rest seem to be happy buying a budget commodity that has a nice shiny colourful label on it. You know it is all about the brand and not the beer. (see Monteiths)
Looks like the macs new branding was borrowed from the TV show Supergroup.
http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/supergroup/series_about.jhtml
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