This week has been one of those times. Last Tuesday afternoon I was exchanging e-mails with Craig Bowen from BeerNZ. We were setting up a meeting to discuss promoting New Zealand craft beer to the Rugby World Cup fans. I sent my last message at 12:50 and a minute later the quake hit. Christchurch has […]
Filed under: Beer Bars, Beer Makers | No Comments »
The United States has ‘Support Your Local Record Store Day’, which is on April 16 this year. Perhaps I should declare April 16 to be the Official NZ Beer Blog Support Your Independent Bottle Store Day.
Filed under: Around the country, Beer Makers, Gushing forth | 47 Comments »
When I buy a bottle of fresh orange juice, I can be confident I am getting what I pay for. But when I buy a bottle of pale ale, I can’t be so sure. Product labelling laws here in New Zealand are protected by the Commerce Commission. The Fair Trading Act (FTA) requires manufacturers to […]
Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth | 7 Comments »
Summer’s a great time for beer – I don’t know if I drink more beer in summer, but I seem to drink it more often. I live halfway up a mountain, and so I deserve a beer at the end of the working day. (What? Well, yes, I do work from home. What’s your point?) […]
Filed under: Beer Makers, Reviews | 2 Comments »
How would commercial beer rate against home brew, in a blind, objective competition? I’ve wondered this for a few years as a home brewer and beer judge. The worst home brews are bad – mine were – and it is easy to see how Uncle Ted’s homemade rotgut earned its notoriety. But the best are […]
Filed under: Beer Makers, Reviews | 9 Comments »
Last month Tuatara Brewery generously sponsored the AGM for Unlimited Potential, a Wellington-based ITC networking group. They had the beer, so Unlimited Potential invited me along to speak briefly and run a quick tasting. Steve Leon from Spring TV recorded it and you can see it here. Have a look, have a laugh, and you […]
Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews | 3 Comments »
I have noticed recent batches of old favourite beers smelling and tasting distinctly sharper and more metallic
Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews | 21 Comments »
It’s legal to drive drunk in New Zealand. I know this because I was a drink-test dummy for Consumer a few years ago. We were testing cheapo breath testers, and comparing them against an official police breath tester and an ESR tester used to calibrate the police kits. My eighth handle of 4% beer was […]
Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth | 16 Comments »
Over the past few weeks I’ve tried a few new brews, and revisited a couple of older favourites in new forms. Ranfurly generously sent me two dozen of its rebranded lagers and pale ale. Ranfurly is made in Auckland by Boundary Road Brewery and has sat firmly on the “value-based-proposition” end of the market. The […]
Filed under: Beer Makers, Reviews | 3 Comments »
When major breweries rationed supplies to freehouse D4 on Featherston, proprietor Dermot Murphy found a new market for craft beer. Dermot came to New Zealand from Dublin, and named his first bar after the postcode where he grew up. His accent came with him, and his beer specialist Finbarr Clabby is another Irish import. Finbarr […]
Filed under: Around the country, Beer Bars, Beer Makers | 8 Comments »