Beer Haiku Friday and Hallertau's Hopping Good Beers

Today's beer haiku makes a lot of sense. It is called "Story Teller": The

sounds of laughter
Are an excellent soundtrack
To my beer soaked yarns

From the Malthouse blog, "Hallertau's Hopping Good Beers" has a look at the Hallertau range and their self-described sensual brewer:

The Saison is a memorable beer but it is indeed now just a memory as it has run out and been replaced by Hallertau Statesman, a 5.3% Pale Ale with a robust 37 IBUs. The Sensual Brewer believes that drinkers will exclaim “hops galore” on first sup. While this exact reaction is unlikely but possible, Statesman is a well balanced Pale Ale with a balance of clean, sweet malt and floral hops. Attempting to expand the beer lexicon, Stephen says the beer is “both zesty and tangy, indeed, we reckon you’ll find it uniquely ‘zangy’.”

Glass Tip - Beer Haiku Daily

Beer Haiku and Brew Dogs

Today's beer haiku seems particularly appropiate for a Friday. It is called "a frickin' miracle":

He left for the bar
At exactly 5 o’clock
Against all the odds

From the Malthouse blog, "who let the Brew Dogs out" takes a look at the latest shipment from Scotland's cheekiest brewery, Brew Dog:

Personally, I’m looking forward to Hardcore. How can I possibly resist something which is described “an extreme beer rollercoaster for freaks, gypsies and international chess superstars?” I guess I had better brush up on my chess.

Glass Tip - Beer Haiku Daily and the Malthouse Blog

Row over name leaves DB in froth

The trademarking stoush between a multinational brewery and a bunch of Kiwi beer enthusiasts over the use of the beer term "radler" is starting to froth.

DB Breweries, which is now wholly owned by Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries, last week signalled its intention to fight a legal application filed in May by the Society of Beer Advocates (Soba) to invalidate its trade-marking of radler, in what is shaping as a David and Goliath beer battle.

Soba's strategy would be to establish that New Zealanders, particularly brewers, were aware of the generic nature of the term before that date.

"We may soon require the assistance of all brewers in New Zealand in our quest to show that DB are either malicious in registering a trademark they knew was a generic brewing term, or incompetent in not knowing it was, when every other brewer worth their salt did," Mr McGill said.

"One outcome means they lose the trademark, the other means they lose huge amounts of credibility by being a brewer without a clue about beer."

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Of Tuataras and The Treasury

Reprinted from the Wellingtonian, my latest column titled "Hatching a new Tuatara":

With the expansion completed, Carl is turning his formidable brewing brain to more new offerings and is planning some special big brews. These, he says, could include a stout, a “nice American Pale Ale” or a “big Belgian triple on the yeast, champagne corked and wired so it would age.”

This week I also ran a beer tasting for The Treasury:

It was in the hallowed halls of The Treasury that I ran my first ever beer tasting. The year was 2003 and the big worry then was bird flu rather than swine flu. How far we have come. It was attended by exactly eight people and around half the beers we tried that night are no longer brewed today. It was a very different event last night when twenty people sat down to a value for money buffet and, more importantly, to taste six New Zealand craft brews.

Radler - the battle lines are drawn

In a cynical, but widely predicted move designed to maximise the distance from May's negative publicity, DB has waited until the very last day possible to defend its trademarking of 'radler', the name of a recognised beer style.

On Friday 10th July, the last day permissible, DB's lawyers, Simpson Grierson, submitted a counterstatement to the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), registering the brewer's intention to contest the Declaration of Invalidity filed by SOBA's patent attorneys James & Wells Intellectual Property.

What happens now?

Read the full story here to find out.

Beer Haiku and International Brewers Day Tomorrow

Today's haiku is about beer and food. It is called "That's Good Eatin'":

She brought me a beer
and a Maryland crab cake
the size of my face

Glass Tip - Beer Haiku Daily

Malthouse blog this week focuses on July 18 - International Brewers Day - as well as discussing beer writer Jay Brooks and legendary brewer Dick Fife in "Have you hugged a brewer today?":

July 18 2008 – a day that will live forever in the opposite of infamy.

That date was the first International Brewers Day and was marked around the world by small groups of beer aficionados in various cerevisaphilic ways. International Brewers Day is the creation of legendary American beer writer Jay R Brooks – author of the Brookston Beer Bulletin - who was inspired by a “Have You Hugged a Brewmaster Today?” sticker on the brewery door at San Francisco’s 21st Amendment.

Epic Journey recreates beer’s most famous voyage

Forty litres of fresh India Pale Ale from Auckland will spend up to six weeks at sea on the Interislander Ferry looking to recreate a recreation of beer’s most famous voyage.

In the 1880s, pale ale from Burton-on-Trent in England took around six weeks on tall ships to reach its thirsty customers in India. British beer writer Pete Brown recently retraced the long journey which helped create this iconic style of beer. He chronicled his adventures in the newly released book Hops and Glory: One Man’s Search for the Beer that Built the British Empire.

After a sleepless night finishing the book, Malthouse proprietor Colin Mallon had the ‘crazy idea’ of replicating the experience in New Zealand. “I had met Pete Brown in England recently and just loved the book. First, I needed some beer. My first thought was Epic Armageddon, a limited release double India Pale Ale brewed by Luke Nicholas from Epic Brewing Company. He agreed immediately. Then I needed a boat. The Interislander Ferry agreed immediately. I tasked Luke with finding appropriate barrels,” says Colin.

“I sourced two 20-litre new oak barrels and filled them with fresh Armageddon,” Luke explains. “I recently brewed a real ale in England for a huge British beer festival so I knew Armageddon was not a million miles away from what a traditional pale ale would have tasted like. For a beer to stand up to the kind of treatment we have in mind it has to be pretty robust. Armageddon is definitely big, strong and hoppy. The idea is to see what effect changes in temperature and constant movement has on beer stored in wood. Most pundits believe India Pale Ale’s benefitted from the conditioning they received during their sea voyages.”

Colin and Luke jointly christened the beer ‘Epic Journey’ while the barrels are affectionately known as Pete (after Pete Brown) and Melissa (in honour of British beer writer Melissa Cole). Pete and Melissa will spend up to six weeks on the ferry before being ceremonially tapped at Beervana at the Wellington Town Hall, 28th & 29th August.

For the full background story see http://armageddon.epicbeer.com

Beer, power, rates push up prices

Those winter staples, electricity and beer, fuelled price rises in the June quarter.

Inflation figures out this morning from Statistics New Zealand show the Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% for the June quarter, and 1.9% for the year to June 30.

That is well within the 1-3% annual inflation target band, but drill down into those figures and they tell a more disturbing story.

Food prices grew 0.9% - beer and vegetables being the main contributors. Household utilities rose 0.4% - with electricity prices, up 1.6%, being the main reason.

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Beer & Food – A Match Made In Heaven

“It’s time Kiwis woke up to the fact that beer isn’t just for swilling, instead you can have a very civilised and enjoyable dining experience with the right beer and food match. And as responsible hosts, you should be serving exceptional food to go with quality beer – the days of serving chips and dip with beer are gone,” says Plowman.

Hallertau is excited to announce its sponsorship of the Beer & Food Match category at the 2009 NZ Culinary Fare as part of HospitalityNZ, 23-25 August, ASB Showgrounds.

The Hallertau Beer & Food Match is open for anyone with a penchant for striking the right flavour combinations to display their skill in matching dishes that complement the sensational flavours of the range of New Zealand hand-crafted Hallertau beer.

Competitors will be required to taste a selection of Hallertau’s beers and then match with a restaurant menu. Competitors’ written justification of the beer and food match will be judged by a panel of experts including renowned brewing industry authority Terry Kyack and Hallertau’s owner and resident brewer Stephen Plowman. Entries for the competition close at 4pm on Friday 24 July. Details on how to enter are at www.restaurantnz.co.nz/Culinaryfare.asp

Hallertau Founder and beer fanatic, Stephen Plowman, outlines how important it is to strike the right combination between beer and food.

Full Story

The Epic Journey Has Begun

Epic and the Malthouse have conspired to put Epic Armageddon in oak barrels on board the interisland ferry for six weeks. The barrels are named Pete (after Pete Brown whose Hops and Glory book inspired this lunacy) and Melissa (after Melissa Cole, a British Beer Writer). This news has reached Melissa and she blogs her response in a post titled "Does my bum look big in this barrel":

[Luke and Colin] went back to New Zealand, we did the Facebook thing to stay in contact and I didn't think much more about it - until a tagged photo of a barrel appeared with my name on it on Colin's page, which I found a little odd/slightly insulting! So, a faux-indignant enquiry was made and I got back a very cryptic 'you'll have to wait and see' response - worst thing ever to say to a nosey journalist.

Unfortunately, my attempts to get more information out of Luke yielded even less fruit, which was even more frustrating - particularly when Tweets started appearing saying things like 'just filling Melissa' [see action photo] which, I must say, came as a surprise to me!

Melissa's blog, "Taking the beard out of beer" is well worth a read.

Craft Beer Surge - Sunday Star Times - 12 July 2009

Letters To The Business Editor - Page D7



Dear Tim

Re: Recession Bites Grog Sales – Sunday Star Times 28th June, 2009

I was surprised to read this article which does give the point of view
of the large brewers in this country and the commodity they sell
called beer. It is easy for consumers of this type of product to trade
down in tough economic times due to the fact that the flavour
difference between the so called "premium" international style lagers
and the budget NZ draught styles (which evolved during tough economic
times during WWII) is minimal.

There is a segment of the New Zealand beer market that is still
experiencing growth, the craft beers. Last week I was in Christchurch
for a meeting of NZ craft brewers looking at setting up an export
cooperative for the Australian market. We all talked about the growth
rate were are all experiencing even now of 50% - 100% across the
brewers at the table. We also discussed the issues we are currently
having getting funding to expand capacity in our breweries. This is
definitely something that the current economic situation if effecting
the 50 craft breweries of New Zealand

As a brewer myself of craft beer, I would be surprised to see my
customers trading down, as there is no comparative products that are
cheaper. As a craft brewer I am making beers full of flavour, and
don't compromise of ingredients, as a result my beer cost
significantly more. But there is a growing market for these beers.

This month I am releasing a beer that could arguably be most
flavourful beer in New Zealand, Epic Armageddon IPA. This beer will be
selling in supermarkets for around $10 per 500ml bottle and I expect
to sell out within a few weeks.

Cheers
Luke Nicholas
General Manager - Flying Brewer ;-)
EPIC Brewing Company

Beer Haiku Friday, Beer Battles and Beer Journeys

In the 1,001th post on this fine blog, Beer Haiku Friday continues its ratings dominance with "big foamy head"

Just some good ole boys
Talking beer, blues, barbecue
And living the dream

The TAB is offering long odds on Neil "Haiku" Miller becoming a more popular nickname than Luke "The Imp" Nicholas.

Over at the Malthouse blog, the 30th post there looks at the West Coast Challenge, brewers talking like professional wrestlers and the Dux de Lux. It is titled "Whatcha gonna do, brother, when the hoppiest beers in the world run wild on you?"

Over a quiet pint of Epic one evening, the Handsome and Softly Spoken Scotsman had the crazy idea of recreating Pete Brown’s IPA voyage recreation right here in New Zealand. He asked the Impish brewer to procure some wooden barrels and fill them with Armageddon. The Impish brewer immediately agreed. He asked the Interislander ferry if the barrels could go on their ship for up to six weeks. The Interislander people immediately agreed.

Glass Tip - Beer Haiku Daily

1000th Beer Blog Post - RealBeer.co.nz

So here it is the 1000th blog post for RealBeer.co.nz

This beer blog was started 15th March 2005 out of necessity due to the email newsletter Sparging getting more and more frequently blocked by SPAM filters.

Thanks to the handful of contributor to the blog, including Greig McGill and especially Neil "Haiku" Miller.

This milestone is a natural place to announce the new website in development (Version 4 of RealBeer.co.nz). It isn't quiet ready for mainstream release but you can check it out at http://beta.realbeer.co.nz

The new site is redesigned to give users easier access to the information they are looking for in the RealBeer.co.nz website.

You are able to add comments on each page to give feedback about breweries, brewpubs, bars, pubs, bottle shops and supermarkets that are selling good beer.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers
Luke Nicholas
RealBeer.co.nz

Shoppers sticking to quality, says survey

A survey by brewer James Squire has found that only 9 per cent of respondents are seeking out cheaper food and beverages.

The survey findings suggest that the emphasis on quality is not restricted to food. "Even during a time of national fiscal restraint, Australians view premium beer and wine as an affordable luxury and will still opt for premium alcohol brands. James Squire has in fact seen a rise in the number of craft beer drinkers, with a 12.9 per cent increase in sales for the sector in comparison to last year," the survey noted.

Full Story

DB buys Hurricanes' home bar

The NBR understands DB has injected about $387,000 into the new company along with $258,000 from Three Jays in order to buy the bar, manage it and also operate a microbrewery on the premises.

DB, which was the head leaseholder of the bar, sent in receivers to take control of The Temperance earlier this year after concerns about its management, which sub-leased the venue.

Full Story

Lion starts consultation on job losses

Lion Breweries kicks off consultation with employees today at Canterbury Breweries, where up to 24 jobs are on the line.

New Zealand's largest brewer is building a $250 million beer manufacturing, contract bottling and warehousing plant at East Tamaki, Auckland, which will have an impact on what other production it needs around the country.

Canterbury Draught, Guinness, Steinlager Pure and some of the Mac's range are brewed in Canterbury.

Speight's in Dunedin was a regional exception, however, with a national and international reputation, and was produced in Dunedin and Auckland.

In Auckland, consultation had begun in April and up to 45 jobs out of 148 were likely to go at the Kyber Pass brewery as production was shifted over the next year to East Tamaki.

Full Story

Beerly Tasting and the Winter Solstice

Last week I ran the second annual beer tasting for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage:

I made a mistake - the same mistake as last year. According to my carefully designed beer menu, I was running a tasting at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Such an august body does not exist and indeed never has in New Zealand. It is the Ministry for Culture and Heritage though in my defence even the former Prime Minister used to make the same mistake though she probably didn’t have it pointed out to her in the same way I did. Any insinuation that there is a Ministry of Culture and Heritage is erroneous, untrue and quite possible flocculent.

Last night I attended the launch of Mac's new winter beer Solstice:

Mac's Solstice is a five malt beer, fermented from a mix of Pale malt, Vienna malt, caramalt, Dark Crystal and Chocolate malt. The Hop component comes from southern Cross and Fuggles, while Horopito adds some mouth-warming clove and pepper aromas.

Beer Haiku Friday and What's In A Name

Today's Beer Haiku is optimistically entitled "Optimist":

Half full? Half empty?
I’m very optimistic
There’s more in my stash

From the Malthouse blog, a considered look at beer names, the debut of more nicknames and a review of Smokin' Bishop 2009:

While writing a grocery newsletter the other week (true story) I came across some crackers from America:

Moose Drool Brown Ale (from Big Sky Brewery – “we make water fun”)
Nodding Head’s Monkey Knife Fight Lager (“everybody loves a monkey”)
McQuire's I'll Have What The Gentleman On The Floor Is Having Barley Wine (hardly surprising at 12% alcohol)
Wasatch Polygamy Porter (“Why stop at one?”)
Buffalo Bill's Alimony Ale (“the bitterest beer in America" – ouch.)

Glass Tip- Beer Haiku Daily