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Who’s interested in getting together and having a few good beers?

I’ve been doing a few corporate beer tastings and training events lately, and just for a change, I think it’s time to meet up casually and appreciate a beer or two.

If you are in Wellington this Sunday 17 April, meet me and other beer fans at 4pm at The Hop Garden, 13 Pirie St. It’s between KFC and the Mercedes dealership (now there’s directions to appeal to a diverse demographic).

No need to book, no entry fee, just a chance to meet up and put the world to rights.

See you on Sunday

Cheers!

Martin Craig
[email protected]

Filed under: Appreciating beer, Beer Bars, Gushing forth  | | 2 Comments »

This is looking like being a watershed year for the craft beer industry here in New Zealand.

Several craft brewers are getting bigger and moving up from local cult markets towards national mainstream markets.

Tuatara, for example, has grown ten-fold in the past two years, investing in new brewing equipment and streamlining distribution.

Moa, of course, has had a hot cash injection from venture capitalists calculating on a financial return. Moa has already rebranded and is splashing advertising and branding money around my neighbourhood in central Wellington.

Other brewers have extra capacity, as was clearly shown last month with the generous offers to Christchurch brewers displaced by the earthquake. Overall, the craft brewing industry could be making a lot more beer. Capacity isn’t the problem – selling it is.

For many years now the sticking point has been Auckland. This city takes up almost a third of our population. If you’re not in business in Auckland, you’re not in business in New Zealand, and craft brewing doesn’t appeal to this audience like it does in Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson and other smaller centres.

So breaking the Auckland market will be the crucial next step for craft brewers. What’s taken so long?

Brewers tell me Auckland has no interest in the marketing message that has worked in the rest of the country. Quality natural ingredients, crafted with passion by gifted artisans, don’t cut it there. Who cares?!

Most craft beer pubs in Auckland have a tacky English theme, and I believe this has fed on (and caused) the fact that many craft beer drinkers in that town are immigrants who discovered craft beer somewhere else. The local craft beer industry has failed to attract and educate the local market in the same way it has in other towns.

So what will craft beer do to crack this big opportunity? It will change the way it presents itself, lose some of its cliquey, select culture and become more mainstream. It will advertise more, and some of the ads might make me cringe. It will embrace more outlets, and staff in some of these places won’t know their Grolsch from their Kolsch. To some beer fans, it will sell out.

Good!

By increasing production, increasing sales, and adapting to the big Auckland market, craft beer will give itself a new lease of life. Growth has been phenomenal over the past decade, but finding craft beer is not as easy as it should be, and the industry isn’t as stable as it deserves to be.

Here’s some of the things I’d like to see from this new round of growth:
• Craft beer pubs that can provide a good living and financial return for their owners.
• A career path for talented young brewers – not just a thin hope of an extended apprenticeship.
• Being able to find a range of craft beer in bars and supermarkets when I visit towns like Hastings, Timaru and Palmerston North.
• Hell, being able to find a range of craft beer bars in Auckland would be good too.

While some beer fans may be uncomfortable with craft beer taking on Auckland with a brash, new image, I think this next phase will be exciting and another step forward for the industry I love.

Wow of the week – Moa Pale Ale. Last week Moa’s head brewer Dave Nichols hosted two excellent tastings at Regional Wines and Spirits. Dave compared Moa beers with the overseas beers that inspired him, and the combinations were fascinating. Moa Pale Ale wasn’t the biggest beer in the range (a 12% Moa cherry lambic was – wait for this one!) but it was my favourite. It’s hoppy and complex, with layers and layers of flavour that just keep breaking through on the palate. NZ Cascade and Sauvin hops do the business, and Dave believes our local Cascade is underrated. For the record, Dave’s match was Ballast Point Big Eye, and it takes a lot to draw me away from West Coast pale ales. Moa Pale Ale did.
Cheers, Dave, well done!

NB – tasted off the tap at various venues – not bottle conditioned.

© Martin Craig April 2011. No reproduction without permission
E-mail martin[at]nzbeerblog.com
Follow us on Twitter @nzbeerblog

Filed under: Beer Bars, Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under Auckland the forbidden frontier, Ballast Point, beer, brewing industry, craft beer, IPA, marketing beer, Moa Brewing Company, New Zealand Beer, Tuatara | 17 Comments »

Giving up beer for Lent?

No, not quite. Contrary to rumour, I haven’t given up my beer or my beerbloggery for Lent.

I have been kept busy with real work and other things, but I have been enjoying some good beers, good bars and good company. I have also been working with passionate beer fan Steph Coutts to organise a beer-themed fundraiser for Christchurch SPCA. More on this soon.

I’ve had a couple of questions about previous blogs. The current liquor reform process has raised questions about supermarkets using beer and wine as loss leaders, i.e., selling them at less than cost to attract customers into buy other things like chippies, Berocca and disprin.

Both New Zealand supermarket chains deny this, although Countdown’s Australian owners have used the technique in Australia. My reading is that the supermarket chains, especially Foodstuffs, have such dominant buying power that they do not have to sell beer and wine at a loss.

Someone may well be making a loss somewhere up the supply chain, but it won’t be the supermarket chains.

And I’m not surprised to see the DB Export ‘Morton Coutts’ ad back on air. Ad agency Colenso has remade the ad with minor editing that removes references to the 1951 Waterfront Lockout.

The ASA complaint that forced the ads withdrawal was made about misleading references to this industrial dispute, not about any statements about beer itself. Like many beer ads, it seems agencies want to say as little as possible about the actual product.

Expect more controversial beer advertising this year. Lion Nathan has appointed a new agency to plug its overall brand while keeping other agencies looking after individual products. This kind of environment typically results in new campaigns as the different agencies compete to win the client’s favour. The DB Export campaign was driven by an agency that had just won the Export contract while another agancy flogs the overall DB brand.

And former ad-man and 42 Below founder Geoff Ross is now a part-owner of Moa brewery, with stated plans to use it to develop and internationally-recognised beer brand. That’s exactly what he did with 42 Below before selling it off to Bacardi in 2006, largely through controversial advertising and promotions.

Wow of the week – Crooked Cider. There are plenty of ciders around at the moment, some good, some bad and few exceptional. Crooked Cider may well be the only New Zealand-made cider that uses real cider apples rather than cooking or eating apples. Cider apples can be virtually inedible, sharp and full of tannin, and Crooked Cider is much crisper and drier than other local offerings. It’s bottle-conditioned and cloudy too, making a challenging experience for anyone who thinks cider is sweet stuff for the girls. This could be the start of good things for the NZ cider industry, and I would be happy to see and taste more local cider of this quality.

And of course, March 6 brings the annual release of Taieri George, Richard Emerson’s tribute to his late father. I haven’t tried this year’s batch yet, but that situation will change this afternoon!

Cheers!
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Filed under: Beer Bars, Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under beer, Bruhaus, cider, craft beer, Crooked Cider, DB Export, Emersons, Invercargill Brewery, Morton Coutts, New Zealand Beer, supermarket beer sales, Taieri George, Three Boys Brewery | 15 Comments »

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 been a thriving hub for craft beer, with a healthy mix of great pubs and brewers. Its brewers include a large mainstream brewery, and independents large, small, and experimental.

It’s not just about numbers. Christchurch’s brewing culture has thrived on co-operation. It is obvious that its brewers do see each other as competitors for a small market, because they have worked together to create a bigger one. This is shown on the surface in the complex web of contract brewing and bottling where beer from one brewery can be produced at another and bottled at a third. You can bet ideas and techniques are exchanged just as fluidly.

Wellington and Nelson skirmish occasionally over the status of New Zealand’s craft beer capital. Christchurch was above such rivalry. It knew it was the most important craft beer centre in Canterbury, so it must, by definition, be the craft beer centre of New Zealand – case closed.

It seems that Christchurch’s craft beer community has survived with no fatalities or major injuries, but there may still be people we haven’t heard from. The SOBA website has been working hard to pass on updates and messages of support here – thanks Grieg.

The wider industry has also been quick to offer support. Emma McCashin generously and swiftly offered access to her brewery’s spare capacity. Other plans are afoot for fundraisers – keep an eye out for events near you. You can donate to the Red Cross. I have heard requests for blood donations, and have a good, healthy stout afterwards to restore your strength.

This quake really will have permanent effects right across New Zealand. As I write this, the toll is 113 with many more unaccounted for. Christchurch’s CBD will take years to recover, and so will the retailers and bars trading there.

The craft brewery scene will also take a long time to recover, but there are smart and committed brewers in Christchurch and I have no doubt they will be back. It will take time – even getting water supplies repaired will take weeks – but good things take time.

Ralph, Craig, Carl, YT, Nathan, Martin and all the others – my thoughts are with you. The craft beer community has enjoyed your efforts and wants to see you back in form – let us know what we can do to help.

Cheers, Martin Craig
martin[at]nzbeerblog.com
Follow us on Twitter @nzbeerblog.com

PS – for a much better quake beer blog, read David Cryer’s personal account.

Filed under: Beer Bars, Beer Makers  |   Tagged under beer, Christchurch earthquake, craft beer, Harringtons, New Zealand Beer, SOBA, Three Boys, Twisted Hop | No Comments »

Kiwi beer drinkers are well aware of the Big Two brewers dominating beer production here in New Zealand.

But beer retailing is also tied up by three large businesses, and independent beer retailers face big and powerful competitors.

For example, there are only two supermarket groups in New Zealand, and one of them is also the biggest liquor retailer.

The supermarket operators are Progressive Enterprises and Foodstuffs. Progressive is Australian-owned and operates Countdown, which is taking over the Woolworths and Foodtown chains. It also operates the Super Value and Fresh Choice chains, which are franchised to local owner-operators.

Foodstuffs is a New Zealand-owned cooperative – storeowners own Foodstuffs, rather than the head office owning the stores. Foodstuffs’ grocery chains are Four Square, On The Spot, New World and Pak’n Save. All up, Foodstuffs makes up slightly more than half of the supermarket trade, and Progressive takes up the rest.

Considering that supermarkets dominate liquor retailing, it seems roughly accurate to assume Progressive has at least a quarter of the market share and Foodstuffs has a bit more.

The supermarkets’ different business models have important implications for us craft beer acolytes. Progressive likes to centralise distribution and operates three enormous distribution centres supplying all supermarkets around the country. Obviously some products, like bread, are delivered directly to stores, but Progressive prefers suppliers to deliver to its distribution centres in bulk, and to run the same product ranges in all stores.

Being individually owned, Foodstuffs shows a bit more flexibility. Storeowners have more say in what they will sell, and Foodstuffs seems to accept more direct-to-store deliveries. The result is that some Foodstuffs supermarkets (especially New Worlds) now carry quite a range of craft beer from around the country. Island Bay New World (formerly owned by brewer Maurice Bennett of Bennett’s Beer) and Thorndon New World have better ranges than most independent liquor stores.

As for Progressive, the franchised Super Value and Fresh Choice chains have more flexibility in their beer range, which often includes local and boutique brewers.

But what about bottle stores? Do they offer strong competition to supermarkets?

Nah, not really.

Apart from its grocery chains, Foodstuffs also operates three liquor store chains – Liquorland, Henry’s, and Duffy & Finn. Foodstuffs says Liquorland has the largest market share of any liquor chain. Combine this with its supermarkets and other liquor chains, and it adds up that Foodstuffs is the largest liquor retailer in New Zealand.

Its biggest competition is Lion Nathan, which has Liquor King and Super Liquor chains. The biggest independent chain is The Mill, and from what I’ve seen, craft beer isn’t part of its low price, high turnover business model.

Effectively then, there are only three major liquor retailers in New Zealand. Foodstuffs supermarkets have some flexibility in choosing their ranges. Progressive supermarkets have less say in what they stock and won’t bother with small suppliers. Lion’s bottle stores obviously emphasise its products, but not exclusively. Liquor King has a beer club, and this month its website is promoting Tuatara.

So where does that leave the independent liquor retailer? Facing big competition, that’s where. Indies have less buying power, smaller marketing budgets, and need to offer better service to survive. It must be tough down there.

As a craft beer fan, I need good brewers and good bars, but I also need good retailers who are able to find stock from numerous small suppliers. They must be willing to put in more work and sell for smaller margins than they would if they just dealt with the big two brewers.

We need them, and they need us. If there is a retailer like this in your town, please tell me about them. If there isn’t, then check out some of the links on the right for indy retailers like Regional Wines who deliver to your door.

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. Any nominations for good, independent beer retailers?

Cheers

Copyright Martin Craig, February 2010. Reproduction with permission.

[email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @nzbeerblog

Filed under: Around the country, Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under beer, craft beer, liquor industry, liquor retailing, New Zealand Beer, NZ liquor industry, Regional wines, Tuatara | 47 Comments »

The DB Export ads featuring Morton Coutts have been pulled form cinema and TV following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The full decision is available here
http://www.asa.co.nz/decisions_to_media.php

More to follow when I’ve read it so I don’t get a lawyers letter.

Cheers

Martin Craig

Filed under: Uncategorized  | | 5 Comments »

Last week I held a sold-out beer tasting at D4 here in Wellington. The beers all came from D4’s tap range, and so there were some unusual and eclectic matches.

The first pairing was Erdinger Weissbier and Coopers Sparkling Ale. Coopers Sparkling was the first craft beer I tasted, many years ago, in Australia. It’s a malt-based golden ale, but, with its cloudy pour and thick white head, it is definitely in touch with its wheaty side. I wanted to see how it compared with a wheat beer, and the tasters’ consensus was that Erdinger was more distinct and, in this company, the Sparkling Ale seemed like a compromise.

The second pairing was more of a contrast – Maredsous Blonde and Tuatara Pilsner. The idea was to demonstrate the difference between the traditional Belgian abbey styles and the more modern lagers. Tasters also commented on the difference in hops, and picked up some subtle sweaty New Zealand aromas coming from the pilsner. That rich, sweet Belgian flavour in the Maredsous was too much for some, but overall this contrasting pair polarised the tasters.

The third pairing was a head-to-head of local American pales ales – Tuatara APA vs. Epic Pale Ale. These were the go-to beers for many of the tasters and most people in the group could tell them apart at first taste. Tuatara was the favourite of the two – tasters thought it was more balanced and complex than Epic PA. This isn’t surprising – Epic says its PA is a single-hop beer (US Cascade), while Tuatara says it uses Cascade, Simcoe and Amarillo. The feeling was that Tuatara APA was introduced last year and represents a “Mark II” APA compared to Epic’s pioneering example.

All up, it was a good, noisy night with lots of healthy beer discussion and debate. There was a range of tasters, including an experienced and respected homebrewer/blogger, and some beer-tasting virgins. As always, the first-timers made a valuable contribution by asking questions the beer fans were too cool to ask out loud!

The final vote was definitely polarised and reflected the unusual combinations we tasted. Epic Pale Ale was the favourite for one taster; Erdinger Weissbier had six fans; and Tuatara APA was the favourite on the night for ten tasters.

Thanks to D4 for hosting the event and providing beer and food. Thanks, too, to Coopers and Tuatara for giveaways and prizes.

And an extra big ‘Cheers’ to everyone who came along and made for a fun night at the pub.

Wow of the week: This comment on Tuatara Pilsner, from Ratebeer.com. “Just as I was thinking I hated NZ hops, I tasted them in a beer where they actually worked. Amazing aroma of passionfruit and taste of passionfruit seeds. Some creeping bitterness, soft and subtle. A few other flavours appear on the periphery – applesauce, mango ice cream. A real delight.” High praise, but especially when it comes from a Plzen resident who has rated 4000+ beers and describes Bohemian pilsner as his favourite style.

And if you want a cheap jug of Tuatara pilsner, try One Red Dog on the Wellington waterfront. A big (2l approx) pitcher for $20 on the right day. Just check that you get a clean glass to enjoy it from.

Cheers!

© Martin Craig, February 2011. Reproduction with permission.
martin[at]nzbeerblog.com
Follow us on Twitter @nzbeerblog

Filed under: Beer Bars, Reviews  |   Tagged under beer, beer tasting, Coopers brewery, Coopers Sparkling Ale, craft beer, D4, Epic Brewery, Epic Pale Ale, Erdinger, Erdinger Weissbier, golden ale, Maredsous, One Red Dog, Tuatara, Tuatara APA, Tuatara Pilsner, wheat | 11 Comments »

We’ve all heard it – “I don’t drink beer because it all tastes the same.”

It’s a shame that the attitude lingers. Not only is someone missing out on great beer experiences, it also means that the old idea that beer is somehow inferior is lingering on too.

After all, if I said all coffee or wine tasted the same, then I would be the one who sounded ignorant. But say the same thing about beer and you are somehow claiming a position of superiority.

So try this. Give your friend a couple of beers. Pick up a Hoegaarden witbier and one of the black beers that we do so well in New Zealand – most supermarkets will stock these options. There will probably be a range of blacks, so look for something fresh.

Now the fun starts – open the bottles. As for wine, there are different styles of glass to suit different styles of beer. Don’t worry about that for now. It’s much more important to have a clean, dry glass with no traces of detergent. Detergent kills head, and that’s one of the pleasures of beer.

The witbier pours a pale yellow-gold and may be slightly hazy. It’s bubbling like crazy, with a thick moussey head that’s as white as fresh snow. This distinctive head gave the beer its name – wit is Dutch and Flemish for white. It will be full of bubbles forming and rushing up to join the head – sometimes a witbier is so fresh and effervescent that you can see the bubbles hitting the head and bouncing back down. The effect is a bit like pouring methode champenoise into a flute, but this time the head persists.

Look at the black. It’s a darker, calmer story. The beer itself is clear but black or very dark brown. Hold it up to the light and you will see ruby red highlights. The head is tan and formed from tiny bubbles floating slowly up to form soft foam.

Now smell. Get your nose right into the glass and inhale long and slowly. In the Hoegaarden you’ll smell orange rind, which is added in production, and hops, the magic spice that makes beer so special. Spices are there too – not just hops but coriander seed and other aromatic spices. These are added directly in production, one of Hoegaarden’s unusual features.

Hoegaarden uses a distinctive ale yeast that brings out spicy and fruity aromas. Other related beer styles have banana or bubble-gum aromas, because this style of yeast can reproduce the same aroma compounds. And yes, it is an ale. Don’t be tricked by the pale colour.

The black beer is dominated by its dark roasted malts. They can smell of coffee and chocolate, although these haven’t been used in the production process. Although you wouldn’t know it from the labelling, black beers are largers and last year Montieths Black won an award in the European Lager category. The black beer is the local version of an old German style called simply schwarzbier – black beer. The lager yeasts add little to aroma. Black beers are malty beers so hops won’t make much contribution either.

Then taste. With the witbier, tasting is also about feeling. Those excited bubbles make the beer sparkle across your tongue and the crisp carbon dioxide gives the beer a refreshing sharpness that is mellowed by the spices and hops. Black beers are softer and can be warming rather than refreshing. The darkly roasted malts can leave a hint of scorched bitterness on the sides of your tongue. Wine writers talk about the difficulty of matching wine and chocolate. Why bother, when black beers present bitter chocolate and coffee flavours so well?

Two beers, one an ale and one a lager – but the lager is much darker than the ale. One is made simply of basic beer ingredients, the other includes spices and fruit in the mix. One beer has a sparkling effervescence and light white head, the other is smooth and rich. A witbier is excellent in summer, a black best in winter.

Black and white, ale and lager – all beer is the same? No way!
Cheers!

© Martin Craig, January 2011. Reproduction with permission
martin[at]nzbeerblog.com
Follow us on Twitter @nzbeerblog

Filed under: Appreciating beer  |   Tagged under beer, beer appreciation, black beer, black lager, craft beer, Hoegaarden, New Zealand Beer, Schwarzbier, witbier | 1 Comment »

This week’s beer tasting at D4 in Wellington has been booked out.

If you’d like to be on the waiting list in case of cancellations, e-mail me at martin[at]nzbeerblog.com.

Other events will be coming up soon, so keep an eye on this space and let me know where and what you’d like to visit.

Cheers

Martin

Filed under: Uncategorized  | | No Comments »

Come and join me for a back-to-work beer tasting to end the summer break in style.

We will be having a blind tasting of range of craft beers from New Zealand and overseas on Wednesday 26 January. D4 on Featherston is providing the beer and food, and there will be prizes and giveaways too.

Come along, talk beer and meet other beer fans. It’s the Wednesday after Anniversary Weekend, so you’ll have been back at work for at least two days – you’ll be ready for a beer.

The tasting is $20/head and you can book by e-mailing me at [email protected]. Seating is strictly limited and first-in, first served.

It will be a fun evening and I’ll be interested to see what a good-looking bunch you all are.

Where: D4, 143 Featherston St, Wellington

When: 6-7pm, Wednesday 26 January

How much: $20, payable on the night. Strictly limited to 20 guests.

What: Blind tasting craft beers from New Zealand and overseas. Food and prizes supplied.

How: E-mail [email protected] with your name and a contact number.

Cheers!

Martin Craig [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @nzbeerblog

Filed under: Beer Bars, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under beer, beer tasting, craft beer, D4 on Featherston, New Zealand Beer, NZBeerBlog events | No Comments »