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There – it’s in writing and on the internet, so it must be true. This year, 2011, I Martin Craig will endeavour to drink more beer.

I admit I may have let the occasional NYResolution wither and die in the past, so I will have to make an extra effort to stick with this one. Feel free to help me out – peer pressure is an excellent way to keep resolve.

And I don’t mean in quantity, either. I mean that this year I will try to broaden my beer tastes. I’m not a beer hunter – in fact, I am quite happy to go to a favourite pub, order a favourite beer, and follow it with another.

My tastes are pretty specific too. I’m a bit of a hophead, especially when it comes to New World hops. I know there is more to beer than lashings of Cascade or Sauvin hops, but if they are available, the other options are often ignored.

I also prefer tap beer to bottles, which means I am largely restricted to New Zealand beers. That’s no bad thing, and innovative importers like Hashigo Zake offer fresh imports on tap too.

But this year I will make a sterling effort to break out of my hoppy New World comfort zone. I will learn about the complexities of malts. I will at least test Michael Jackson’s claims that Belgian beer is in a league of its own (and not just off). And I will have a pint of bitter off a hand pump. Maybe I will even learn to appreciate subtlety.

Mind you, I have broken resolutions before…

2011 has a lot of potential for New Zealand’s craft beer industry, through making the most of the Rugby World Cup. In my day job, I have been analysing some of the marketing opportunities around this event. Heineken sponsors it, but that’s no reason to ignore the big and thirsty audience it will attract.

It’s a great chance for the industry to show just how good our local beers can be, and how we are developing a distinctive style of our own. It is also a chance to show of New Zealand hops to overseas beer fans, and I sincerely hope our brewers and hop producers are already planning ways to make the most of the occasion.

See, I just keep coming back to New Zealand hops again, don’t I?

Cheers!

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©Martin Craig 2011. Reproduction with permission.

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Filed under: Gushing forth  |   Tagged under beer, Cascade, craft beer, hand pump, Hashigo Zake, hops, New Zealand Beer, Rugby World Cup, RWC 2011, Sauvin, SOBA | 106 Comments »

Cheers 2010, you’ve been a good year for New Zealand beer fans.

The highlight for me was the exponential spread of good graft beer. Several mainstream (tied) pubs here in Wellington renegotiated their supply contracts this year and now stock craft breweries like Epic and Emerson’s alongside mainstream taps. Bottled craft beer is turning up in many pubs too.

Some Wellington cafes and restaurants have a beer range that is broader than some beer pubs. They don’t make a big fuss about it, or call themselves a beer cafe. It is just part of being a good cafe, and fits in naturally with good food, wine and coffee.

The mainstream outlets, especially pubs, deserve to be supported. I’m sure the mainstream breweries will try to force tighter contracts and evict craft beers, and that would be a setback. Let the outlet know you value a good beer range when you see it.

The low point of my beer year was the closure of the Mac’s Brewery. This was one of the more innovative breweries in the country and showed a genuine commitment to craft beer from its owner Lion Nathan.

That commitment ended suddenly this year when the brewery closed. The last seasonal brew was the 2010 Brewjolais. This was a Mac’s innovation and tradition started by former head brewer Colin Paige using fresh – undried! – hops. Brewjolais was alive – every year was different, due to annual variations in the hop crop, and the beer changed over time as the hop presence matured.

Mac’s went from producing Brewjolais in autumn to flogging flavoured cider in spring. Sure, running a specialist craft brewery was bound to be more expensive than producing Mac’s in Lion’s larger plants, but that’s only an expense if you fail to leverage the innovation and build a boutique niche, which Mac’s was capable of doing.

It’s a real shame that Mac’s has gone from exciting products to dull, reactive promotions. Mac’s now simply tries to match competitors’ product ranges rather than leading and showing initiative. It was good to see a major brewer acting so confidently, and the brewery’s closure was the biggest loss to brewing this year.

On a personal note, thank you and happy Christmas to everyone who has read and enjoyed NZBeerBlog this year. I started the blog six months ago for purely personal reasons – I like beer and I like writing. In the process I have met lots of passionate beer merchants and makers and drinkers, and enjoyed our conversations.

Thanks too to those readers who have asked me to comment on your brews, and those who have left comments – especially those who think I’m wrong and tell me why. That’s what a good beer conversation is all about.

So cheers NZBeerBlogees, see you in 2011.

Martin Craig

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Filed under: Gushing forth  |   Tagged under beer, Brewjolais, craft beer, craft breweries, Emerson Brewery, Epic Brewery, Lion Nathan, Mac's Brewery, New Zealand Beer | 4 Comments »

Binge drinking used to be compulsory here in New Zealand, and was reinforced by an emergency law that lasted for half a century.

For the benefit of international readers, let me start at the beginning. Back in 1917, New Zealand was at war. We were attempting to drive the Hun out of Flanders, and the Sultan out Palestine. Some people were letting the side down by going to the pub of an evening, and so an emergency law was passed requiring all pubs to close at 6pm, thus freeing our evenings to contemplate the terrible world we would have if the Huns had taken over and let the pubs stay open.

Of course, we weren’t the only country at war – the whole world was at it. But were almost the only one to live with this kind of restriction for so long after the war. Because that emergency law outlasted both World Wars, the Korean War and the first half of the Vietnam War.

That’s right – from 1917 until 1967 all the pubs in New Zealand had to close at 6pm and stay closed until the next morning. We take it for granted in New Zealand, but it’s easy to forget what an extreme and influential policy it was.

We weren’t the only ones doing it – Australia did the same thing. South Australia ended early closing in 1967 too, but it introduced two years before New Zealand did, in 1915.

It became known as the six o’clock swill, as beer drinkers crammed an evening’s worth of beer into an hour of drinking. The swill affected our culture, our architecture and our beer styles and tastes, and it continues to influence us today, nearly a century after it was introduced.

Bars got bigger to serve as many customers as possible as quickly as possible. They were built with tile and concrete floors, some with built-in gutters, so they could be hosed-out. This was the predecessor of the ugly-great booze barn style of pub design as seen on Once Were Warriors, and, increasingly-rarely, in New Zealand suburbs.

The beer had to be easy to drink and easier to pour. There was no time to discuss, or even notice, strong flavour, so it was brown and sweet, like our tea. Beer was dispensed from hoses into glasses and jugs, and good head was treated as a waste of space that could be filled with more flat beer. Beer was delivered in tankers, derived from the dairy industry, and pumped from the tanker into tanks below the pub, like petrol. Although the swill is long-gone, that industrial presentation and lack of flavour was a poor start for a more sophisticated and diverse beer culture.

The six o’clock swill lasted for two generations, and today’s binge-drinking culture shows we’re not over it yet. It’s ironic that the swill was supported by the temperance movement, both when it was introduced and whenever it was reviewed.

The swill was before my time – if you experienced it, you’d be at least in your sixties today. My father worked in a Lower Hutt bar in the 1960s, filling take-away flagons through a hose. To this day he maintains that presenting beer with a head is cause for complaint. I do remember 10pm closing – the last train back to Porirua was a tense trip, and I have a deep suspicion of synchronised closing times that fill the streets with drinkers all at once.

But given the current fascination with Kiwiana, nostalgia, and ads representing the 1950s as the Golden Age of New Zealand beer, perhaps the swill could make a comeback. Legislators are considering restricting opening hours and raising the drinking age – let’s make it 21, close all pubs at six, then ride home on the tram.

No, let’s not.

What about you – do you remember the swill? What changes came when pubs were allowed to open at night?

Wow of the week – Sprig & Fern Three Berry Cider. Black currents, strawbs and boysenberry blended with apple cider. Like Ribena, but with fruit, alcohol and Vitamin C. If you’re near The Malthouse, try it half-and-half with Coopers Stout with coffee beans off the hopinator. Mrs Beerblog invented this one – it shouldn’t work but it does, and it probably makes an excellent breakfast.

Cheers.
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© Martin Craig 2010. Reproduction with permission.
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Filed under: Gushing forth  |   Tagged under beer, beer history, cider, Coopers brewery, Coopers stout, craft beer, Malthouse, New Zealand Beer, six o'clock swill, Sprig & Fern, stout, three berry cider | 2 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 describe their products accurately in advertising, packaging and labelling. Breaching the FTA can lead to fines and imprisonment, but more often, the Commerce Commission simply requires companies to correct their ads and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

For some reason, the fruit juice industry has attracted a lot of Commerce Commission attention. Since 2002, the Commission has investigated at least 12 juice manufacturers. As a result, many agreed to change their labels, often over claims that the juice was freshly squeezed, rather than made with pulp. The Commission has also reached settlements with wine makers, typically over regional labelling.

The two major brewers have both breached the FTA in the past. In 2001, DB Breweries changed Tui and Monteiths labels after it admitted its claims they were brewed in Mangatainoka and Greymouth were liable to mislead consumers.

The same year, New Zealand Breweries admitted a similar breach of the FTA over claims Speights was all brewed in Dunedin. As part of the settlement it was required to change labelling, publish corrective newspaper ads, and provide retailers with point of sale notices clearly informing the public that canned and bottled Speights was made in Christchurch and Auckland. Remember them? I don’t.

While place-of-origin labelling has been challenged, I am not aware of any challenge made to the misleading use of beer styles. It seems to me that it is possible to label a beer as anything that will sell, rather than providing consumers with an accurate description of the product they are paying for. We all know of labels that are completely inaccurate descriptions of the beer within.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m certainly not suggesting that all beer should be made to a specific style – innovation is good. I am not suggesting that every beer should have to be labelled with a style. I’m just saying that when a beer is advertised or labelled as a certain style, it should be an honest effort at that style of beer.

In a settlement with a winemaker, the Commerce Commission said: “Wineries need to ensure their labelling is accurate – not only regarding place of origin, but also in relation to varietal, vintage, and general representations made about their wine.” Are comparable standards applied to beer?

In 2007, Consumer magazine raised the issue of misleading labelling. This came after a beer tasting where beers were categorised according to their label, rather than letting brewers choose the appropriate category. This is standard Consumer practice, and is similar to the approach it takes in testing wine and other products. (I was a judge at this tasting, as was Geoff Griggs).

Some brewers told Consumer that their ‘ale’ should have been compared with draughts rather than ales – a brave admission given Consumer’s pursuit of consumer laws. Consumer responded to say, “A beer should taste like what it’s claimed to be, regardless of how it’s brewed. We think it’s time the industry labelled their products true to style.”

Consumer approached SOBA, and it said, “We deplore the practice of blatantly mislabelling beers as different styles simply because the marketing department thinks it will assist sales. This practice is damaging to brewers who correctly brew a style, and perpetuates the long-held myth that all beer tastes the same.”

So why is mislabelling a problem? As a consumer I have a right (under the FTA) to know what I am buying before I hand over my beer money. Secondly, brewers with diverse ranges need consumers who know what to expect from, say, a pale ale, saison, doppelbock or radler. These are product descriptions, not marketing terms.

I believe brewers who enter commercial competitions in categories that contradict their advertising and labelling are facing a real risk of attracting Commerce Commission attention. They shouldn’t expect to win awards in one category while telling customers they are paying for something else. Coz that would be breach the law, wouldn’t it?

Wow of the week – Hallertau Minimus. This is one flavoursome session beer. Heaps of fresh New World hop aroma and flavour, and less than 4% ABV. Minimus sets the benchmark for delivering flavour without pushing the alcohol.

And finally, if you want to support a brewer who is making the world a better place, help Harrington’s Breweries’ Carl Harrington raise money for leukaemia research here.

Cheers!

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©Martin Craig 2010. Reproduction with permission.
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Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under Commerce Commission, craft beer, DB Breweries, dobbelbock, Fair Trading Act, fresh juice, Hallertau, Harringtons, Marrowthong, Minimus, mislabelling, Monteiths, New Zealand Beer, Pale Ale, radler, saison, SOBA, Speights, Tui | 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?)

Lagers, pilsners, golden ales and wheat beers all make great summer drinking. I’m a pilsner fan year-round, but I’ve become a golden ale fan over the past couple of summers. Golden ale is the thinking-drinkers’ lager – it has the clean fermentation and pale malts, but ale yeasts can add an extra bit of fruitiness and depth of flavour.

That yeast-produced fruitiness can combine very well with some local hops, especially the distinctive Sauvin with its sauvignon blanc-like passion fruit tones. This hop seems to polarise brewers. Some love it, some avoid it, and some say they find it a challenge. It is a distinctive hop, and generated comment this year over differences with last year’s vintage.

Last summer my go-to beer was Three Boys Golden Ale. It’s back this year, and the challenging characteristics of the Sauvin hop were certainly apparent in the earliest batches. I commented on some sweaty aroma notes, and I’m pleased to say these are greatly subdued now as the hop characteristics mature.

I was at Three Boys brewery last week and the Golden Ale is tasting very fresh and ready to go. It was good to see many tanks of maturing Golden Ale, and I plan to help empty them over summer. Compare it with Twisted Hop’s Sauvin Pilsner, another take on the Sauvin hop, and made by Twisted’s brewer at Three Boy’s brewery.

Three Boys’ Wheat Beer is also tasting very fresh and drinkable. Like traditional recipes, Three Boys use coriander spices but the trad orange peel is replaced by lemon peel for extra zest. Brewer Ralph Bungard told me he has had to experiment to prevent lemon oils attacking the head, and whatever he does is working, as the samples I’ve tried have the full, foamy white head and vigorous carbonation you expect from the style.

Harrington’s produce an unbelievably wide range with more than 20 beers and a few ciders and RTDs. When it comes to summer beers, Harrington’s panoramic range includes eight lagers and pilsners, one wheat beer, one flavoured summer lager and a couple of ciders.

I have enjoyed Rogue Hop Pilsner many times in the past – it’s at the hoppy end of the spectrum for pilsners, but not right out there with Tuatara Pilsner. Harrington’s Strongman Lager (it’s 6.5% ABV) was a new one to me, and it’s another one to exploit that summery Sauvin hop. It has noticeable balancing malts, rather than being dominated by the hop, and this gentle maltiness is a bit of a Harrington’s characteristic. Strongman won gold at this year’s Australian International Beer Awards.

Roosters Summer Ale was another favourite last summer, and now it is back on tap at Regional Wines. It’s hoppy, it’s clean and fresh, and it is ridiculously cheap for a craft beer. Try it.

Coopers Sparkling Ale has also been turning up on tap here in Wellington, both at Regional Wines and in D4. This was the very beer that put me onto craft beer when I moved to Sydney in 1989. After student years with DB and Lion jugs, this was a true revelation. Cloudy, pale, well-carbonated and with fruity ale notes, this one still tastes good to me.

Do your beer drinking tastes change as the days get longer? What’s your summery beer summary?

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©Martin Craig, 2010. Reproduction with permission only.
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Filed under: Beer Makers, Reviews  |   Tagged under Coopers Sparkling Ale, craft beer, golden ale, Harrington's Brewery, lager, New Zealand Beer, pilsner, Rogue Hop Pilsner, Roosters Brewery, Sauvin, Sauvin Pilsner, Strongman Lager, Three Boys Brewery, Tuatara Pilsner, Twisted Hop, wheat beer | 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 better than commercial beer, because they are crafted in detail, customised to the brewer’s personal taste, and can use any ingredients regardless of commercial realities.

I have had another dilemma recently, too. Ranfurly has rebranded with expensive TV ads and new brews and packaging, in a clear bid to get away for the cheapest-piss-in-the-supermarket niche. I wanted to give the new beer a fair testing, untainted by ads, packing, beer snobbery, or Ranfurly’s previous reputation.

Solution? Ranfurly Station Pale Ale was put in front of the tasting panel at this month’s SOBA National Homebrew Competition, judged as a New Zealand Pale Ale. This was a true blind test –judges didn’t know they were tasting a commercial beer, and they certainly didn’t know it was Ranfurly’s new Station Pale Ale. The beer was judged to the Beer Judging Certification Programme standard, used internationally for judging home brew and commercial beer.

Station Pale Ale scored 11/50, broken down as:
AROMA: Diacetyl, DMS, oxidised. Hiding or ruined any hop character. 2/12
APPEARANCE: Great clarity, good foam. 3/3
FLAVOR: Huge diacetyl, no hop character. 3/20
MOUTHFEEL: Thin, sweet diacetyl finish. 1/5
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Diacetyl overpowers anything in the beer. 2/10
STYLISTIC ACCURACY – Not to style (i.e., NZ Pale Ale)
TECHNICAL MERIT – Significant Flaws
INTANGIBLES – Lifeless

To put that in perspective, there were 294 entries in the competition, and 266 scored better than Ranfurly Station Pale Ale.

So, to answer my first question – more than 90 percent of the entries in this year’s SOBA National Homebrew Competition rated better than Ranfurly Station Pale Ale, a commercial beer available at bottle stores and supermarkets around the country, and currently being heavily advertised on TV.

To answer my second question – Station Pale Ale rated very poorly indeed. The BJCP ratings describe any beer that scores 13 or less as being “Problematic – major off flavors and aromas dominate”. This is not my personal assessment. This score was given by a three-person judging panel, which included two commercial brewers, and at least one of these has international brewing experience. I believe the results are a genuinely objective and expert assessment of Station Pale Ale’s comparative quality.

Just for the record – the test sample was supplied, unsolicited, by Ranfurly’s PR firm, so they could be tried out and blogged about. I raised the idea of benchmarking a commercial beer with the competition organiser before it was submitted, although he didn’t know which one it was.

So a hearty congratulations to everyone who scored better than 11/50. You can honestly say your home brew is better than commercial beer, and now you have proof! And if any of those entrants come from Ranfurly, the Jewel of the Maniototo, you might want to make it clear that you beer is better than the ‘real’ thing from Auckland.
Cheers
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©Martin Craig. Reproduction with permission only.

Filed under: Beer Makers, Reviews  |   Tagged under BJCP, Hombrew, PAale Ale, Ranfurly, SOBA, Station Pale Ale | 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 might as well have a beer at the same time. Thanks to Unlimited Potential, Spring TV, and, especially, thanks to Tuatara.

FAQ

Martin, do you really look like that?
Yes – that’s what drinking beer for nearly 30 years will do for you.

Martin, do you really sound like that?
Yes – that’s what living in New Zealand for nearly 50 years will do for you.

Martin, are you really that small?
No, dummy, it’s Youtube.

Martin, are you available for other corporate and Christmas events?
Yes, e-mail me at [email protected]

Cheers
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Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews  |   Tagged under Spring TV, Tuatara, Unlimited Potential | 3 Comments »

It is just me, or are our craft beers showing some sharp hop notes this spring?

I wrote a few weeks ago about some strong sweaty notes coming off Three Boys’ Golden Ale on the hand pump. I’ve tried the same batches off the tap now, and the armpit aromas are still there, although not as obvious as off the hand pump. Yeastie Boys’ Motueka Monster shows the same, distinctly sweaty notes.

I’ve been told this sweatiness is coming from Sauvin hops, but to be honest I haven’t noted any gym-sock notes coming from Twisted Hop Sauvin Pilsner.

But I have noticed recent batches of old favourite beers (typically pilseners) smelling and tasting distinctly sharper and a bit more metallic than usual. Other beer heads tell me they have noticed the same thing, and it isn’t restricted to individual beers or breweries.

So here’s my questions for you. Beer fans – have you noticed different flavours coming from recent batches of your favourites?

Brewers – is the current crop of hops any different to previous crops, i.e., was 2010 an unusual vintage? And what’s your philosophy about the natural differences in hop harvests? Do you tune your recipe for consistency, or is the variation all part of the craft beer experience?

Wow of the week – Renaissance MPA is aging wonderfully. I opened a bottle of the original Beervana batch last week. It is less upfront-hoppy now and there are notes of dried fruit/sultanas in there. As the hops mature there is a savoury note starting to come though. It reminded me of blue cheese, and I matched MPA with Kapiti Kikorangi and a fruit chutney. I have always been sceptical about beer and food matching, but, wow, this one worked. MPA is a formidable beer that is maturing nicely.

Cheers

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©Martin Craig. Reproduction with permission only.

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Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews  |   Tagged under craft beer, hops, Kapiti Kikorangi, Motueka Monster, Renaissance, Renaissance MPA, Sauvin Pilsner, Three Boys, Three Boys Golden Ale, Twisted Hop, Yeastie Boys | 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 the one that put me over the legal limit. Yes, I can drink seven handles, get on the road, and be completely legal.

Are you happy with that? I’m not. For the record, I am drunk and impaired well before I get near the limit. I bet you are too.

Right now, our government is talking about limiting alcohol harm. So why isn’t our drink-drive limit related to the amount you can drink before impairing your judgement? Why isn’t it set to the common international standard of 50mg alcohol/100ml blood?

Bill English, the No.2 man in the government, opposed changing the existing drink-drive limit in 2003, saying it would discriminate against rural residents who had “a social drink”. “Anyone who’s had a beer and a spoonful of cough mixture is potentially a criminal”. Yeah right, minister – you obviously did not understand the implications of the law you were supporting.

Perhaps this explains why the current government is dithering over proposals to reduce our limit to 50mg. It doesn’t explain why Labour, which is pushing the change, sat on its hands while in government for nine years.

Under-age drinking is another loophole. Unlike most countries, there’s no under-age drinking law in New Zealand. The closest we get is attempting to restrict alcohol purchase, supply and possession. Actually drinking the stuff is perfectly legal, provided it’s done in private.

We say we want to limit alcohol harm, but it’s legal to drink at any age, and it’s legal to drive drunk. These are the two basic tools used around the world to limit alcohol harm, and we effectively do not use them in New Zealand.

So just how are we going to control alcohol consumption? By fiddling around the edges, by being inconsistent, and by passing the buck.

For example, the government wants to let local communities oppose liquor licences and make them harder to get. It has also moved to make licences easier to get if they are related to the Rugby World Cup. That’s inconsistent.

Another example – both national and local government allow police to use discretion in enforcing liquor bylaws and regulations. This always puts police into an impossible position – they have the choice of turning a blind eye to law breaking, or facing cries of victimisation if they don’t. That’s passing the buck.

A third example – there has been talk of regulating a minimum price for beer, wine and spirits. But the mechanism touted for this is an increase in alcohol taxes, which may well be applied across the board.

The beer industry is now operating in an unpredictable and politically volatile environment and big brewers have recognised the risk of increased political intervention. The recent DB Export ‘Morton Coutts’ TV ad looks like retro humour, but it has an underlying message to the government – you interfered in our industry before, we found a way around it, and we can do it again.

Smaller craft brewers are especially vulnerable in this climate. We take our craft industry for granted, but compared to forces such as major political parties, big breweries, supermarkets and anti-alcohol lobbies, craft brewing could be stomped under foot. I have no doubt the big breweries, for example, would happily accept law changes that reinforced their economies of scale.

What can craft beer bars and brewers do to protect themselves? Invite your local MP around. Show them how the industry is growing, creating jobs and building exports in their electorate. Demonstrate that beer drinking happens outside student pubs and sports clubs, and doesn’t require sculling a jug.

And let them know they have no right to tamper with the details while they leave the two big loopholes of drunk driving and under-age drinking wide open.

Cheers
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©Martin Craig. Reproduction with permission only.

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Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under alcohol law reform, beer, brewing industry, craft brewing, DB Export, drink driving, drunk driving, Morton Coutts, SOBA | 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 rebranding is clearly aimed at building profit margins.

I have repeatedly asked Ranfurly’s Auckland-based PR spokeswoman for brewer’s notes, but no good, I’ll have to write my own.

Ranfurly Frontier Lager is sweet and probably best-avoided because you can get more flavour for your money, even at $1.50/330ml bottle. Ranfurly Station Pale Ale gives a pleasant hiss as you open the twist-top. It pours a bright, coppery brown, with a clean white head that lasts several seconds. The vigorous carbonation contributes strongly to the flavour, at least as much as the malt and hops. Unlike many craft beers I have tried, Ranfurly Station Pale Ale can be consumed straight from the bottle with no loss of flavour.

Points deducted for mislabelling a larger lager as an ale, but half a point added for the Darwinist marketing slogan ‘Naturally Selected’. Give some to creationist friends for Christmas, and then help their beer tastes evolve over the year.

Mata Brown Boy is made by brewers who care about their product. Aotearoa Breweries’ roving ambassador Jaysen Magan travels the North Island visiting stockists, and he told me cafes are proving to be a good market for this small, Kawarau-based brewer.

Mata Brown-Boy Amber Ale is unashamedly English in its styling – reddish-brown, moderate carbonation, and malt-driven, 5% ABV. Mata says it has a unique New Zealand contribution from horopito, which has peppery flavours. I didn’t notice the horopito, which is no bad thing, because I found Brown Boy a good, real-ale style beer and one for the English beer fans.

Rumour has it the Mata Brown-Boy is the very beer Paul Henry has chosen to drown his sorrows, because it comes from real Kiwi brewers with a proper New Zealand name like Aotearoa.

Aotearoa’s Mata Black Bru (5% ABV) calls itself an ‘Irish-style stout’ and it is noticeably dry and bitter in its finish. I enjoyed this one and thought the finish helped it stand out from the pack of smoother stouts I am used to. Pours impressively thick and dark with a dark tan head. I preferred this one over Brown-Boy and think it has potential as a food match. I tried it with jerk chicken and the dry finish went well with the jerk spices. Jaysen is a bit of a gourmet himself – have you tried this one with some Bay of Plenty oysters, Jaysen?

Sunshine Brewery’s Black Magic is a stout I have enjoyed over the years. Brewer Geoff Logan has aged a batch for a year and brought it out at Beervana back in August. The aging has brought out rich dark chocolate and black plum flavours – Richard Emerson says it tastes of Black Forest torte. At just 5% ABV this is low alcohol for an aged beer, so if you have some, try it soon. The aged Black Magic wasn’t released commercially, but try your luck at the brewery, and compare it to the fresh product. Let us know if you get the chance.

Three Boys Golden Ale is another old mate. Last summer it was my top beer, the one I would have whenever I found it. It has returned this spring and I have tried it off hand pumps at Hashigo Zake and The Malthouse. In both cases, I was disappointed with the hand-pump version. It has some powerful and unpleasant sweaty aromas that I certainly hadn’t noted in the carbonated version.

I asked Three Boys Brewery about this. They report that the carbonated version tastes as good as ever, which is good news because I want some, and some summer weather too. I think this is a case of a mismatch between the beer and the hand pump, and shows that some beers are best off the tap.

Next week – why it is legal to drive drunk in New Zealand.

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©Martin Craig. Reproduction with permission only.

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Filed under: Beer Makers, Reviews  |   Tagged under Aotearoa Breweries, Black Magic, Boundary Road Brewery, Frontier Lager, golden ale, hand pump, Hashigo Zake, Jaysen Magan, Malthouse, Mata Black Bru, Mata Brown Boy, Paul Henry, Ranfurly, Station Pale Ale, Sunshine Brewery, Three Boys | 3 Comments »