Brewery faces battle

The McCashins have owned the site, zoned suburban commercial, since 1980 when the family began brewing and manufacturing beverages. Brewery company Lion bought brewing rights to their Macs brands in 1999, and leased the site off the McCashins. Brewing and manufacturing continued on the site until a year ago, and the family recently signalled its intention to resume operations.

Best Island couple Robert and May Hall said they believed the re-opening of the brewery would be an asset for the district, particularly as a number of jobs would be generated, which they considered to be a "big plus" in these current tough times.
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Rory Cobb, of Stoke, said economic growth on existing sites was vital for sustainable growth. "Anyone attempting this type of investment in the current economic climate deserves to be fully supported."

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Beer Haiku Friday and Attaining Beervana

Today's Beer Haiku Friday sums up most art exhibitions for me. To mangle a Homer Simpson quote, I like paintings to look like the things they are supposed to look like. Here is "Abstract Art":

An art opening
Where beer is the only thing
Understandable

From the Wellingtonian newspaper, my column reviewing the success of Beervana 2009:

The queue snaked from the front door of the Town Hall around the corner and right across Civic Square. Hundreds of people waited anxiously to hand in their tickets and receive a canary yellow bracelet. They were not there to see a politician speak or a rock band play, they were literally there for the beer.

Glass Tips - Beer Haiku Daily and The Wellingtonian newspaper

Beer Haiku Friday and the New Yawk beer scene

Sometimes you just find the perfect Beer Haiku. In November, I'm doing a wedding speech so this poem, "Advice for the Best Man", was timely:

A good rule of thumb:
When they try to tackle you
Your toast is finished

From the New York Times, Eric Asimov has a considered look at the highs and lows of the New York beer scene. His article is called "A beer please, and a (Good) Menu":

Great beer abounds today in New York, and the choices keep getting better. Nowadays, almost every neighborhood bar has at least a few craft beers. The better beer bars offer an expanded selection, scouring the world for unknown brewers and new beers. And the mark of a top-flight spot is one or two cask beers, served unpasteurized and unfiltered with natural carbonation, rather than from a pressurized keg.

Yet an imbalance exists that threatens to undercut the pleasure to be found in a perfectly drawn pint. While aficionados yearn to have beer taken as seriously as wine, too often beer is presented in a context that diminishes the respect it deserves.

Glass Tip - Beer Haiku Daily for the poem and Mr Martin Bosley for the article

Putting Beer in Context and A Tasting Report

From the Malthouse blog, a post on "Beer in its proper context" which covers why Fiji Bitter tastes better in Fiji, (Sir) Jeremy Clarkson on Chinese beer and details of the new beers coming on tap in October (including the debut from Golden Ticket):

The thing is, it was exactly the same (awful) beer but they were also quite right that it tasted much better in Fiji. Why precisely that was the case quickly became clear when I enquired about how they drank the beer in Fiji. Essentially, they all drank ice-cold Fiji Bitter in the hot sun, by the pool, relaxing on holiday while being waited on by someone young, attractive and largely naked.

In contrast, the Fiji Bitter they had in Wellington was served cool-ish, the rain was lashing against the spartan meeting room’s windows, it had been a busy working week and the beer was being served by a husky chap in a Hawaiian shirt. It is all about context.

Last week I braved blizzards and public transport to run a beer tasting out at Wallaceville:

I ran my first beer tasting in Upper Hutt last week. It was for the Social Society out at the biosecurity complex in Wallaceville and it turned out to be a great night despite Wellington producing some of the worst weather of the year. What happened to spring and global warming Mr Gore? Anyway, the idea was to offer up an introductory selection of New Zealand craft beer to an audience which contained more than one person who initially thought they ‘didn’t like beer.’

DB takes measures as changes brew

At the same time, the tough economic conditions meant the trend for beer drinkers to trade up to premium brands had slowed, and many had gone back to cheaper brews.

And many consumers were saving money by having a drink at home rather than going out at night.

Blake estimated overall beer consumption declined 4-5% in the year to September, compared with the previous year.

"It's been a huge category shift and I've never seen that sort of momentum before in the market," Blake said.

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(NOTE: The Brewers Guild of New Zealand has done a craft beer survey which showed that for the first six month of the year craft beer bottled sales had increase 10%)

Beer Haiku Friday and the Nanny State

Today's Beer Haiku is a salutory lesson for Friday nights. It is called "Tragic":

Cocktail temptation
Lures him from his faithful beer
A tragic mistake

The latest Malthouse blog takes a look at Geoffrey Palmer, Maurice Bennett, Brew Dog, an 18.2% beer, a 1.1% beer, alcohol prices and Townshend No.9. It is called "Who's Your Nanny?":

As New Zealand inches towards a hospitality environment regulated by the whim and fancy of Sir Geoffrey Palmer, it is worth considering the situation in the United Kingdom which, if anything, might be even worse.

Here, Maurice Bennett Esq, a noted man around town (unlike Sir Geoffrey), got in the most minor of trouble a few years back for his advert which dared to insinuate that a beer called “Bennett’s Strong” was, in fact, quite strong. The ‘offending’ ad was quietly pulled.

Glass Tip - Those excellent chaps at Beer Haiku Daily

Beck's To Be Brewed in New Zealand

Lion Nathan’s Canterbury Brewery will join an elite group of just 14 production sites around the world to produce Becks locally under licence.

The brewers at Canterbury Brewery have been working with ABInBev for over 9 months to successfully emulate and brew Beck's beer locally. Emulation involved adhering to the German (Reinheitsgobot) purity law and the use of the best quality malt, Beck's yeast, German hops, and of course Canterbury water.

In total 13 trial brews were completed, with three consecutive successful brews needed in order to match the Bremen produced Beck’s and meet the demanding ABInBev standards (both analytical and taste). At that point, emulation was considered successful.

Beck's is the second of ABInBev's beers to be produced by Lion in New Zealand; with Stella Artois having been produced in our Auckland brewery for some time. It also adds to the international portfolio of beers produced by Canterbury where we have been brewing both Kilkenny and Guinness for Diageo for the last 18 years.

The Becks brand has experienced solid growth in New Zealand in recent years and now plays an important role for our customers in the premium beer segment. The aim of this project was to supply the local market with the freshest beer without having to manage supply out of Germany with the inherent risk to freshness and product availability that can involve. Ultimately we are providing the best taste experience for the New Zealand market. Local production also gives us more flexibility around packaging formats.

Our locally brewed Beck's will be packaged into kegs, 6 and 12 bottle packs, and will replace product currently being imported from Bremen, Germany. The launch date into the local market was 14th September 2009.

OctoberBest - The Malthouse

From 2nd - 30th of October come and enjoy our favourite picks of what was on offer at Beervana as well as a few of our staff favourites.

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