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The Society of Beer Advocates has held a national home-brew competition every year since 2007, and I’ve been a judge for the past three years. This year the competition is in Hamilton, the first time it has been held outside Wellington, and a new crew will be judging. It’s time to think about entering.

The SOBA competition uses the rigorous judging criteria developed and honed by the Beer Judging Certification Program. This is a United States-based outfit that standardises the judging technique and publishes the standards for each beer style. Some of the standards are highly specific, while others can be infuriatingly vague, but overall the system gives a proven structure to what is, inevitably, a subjective exercise.

So if you’re entering the SOBA home-brew nationals, how will your proud efforts be treated and judged?

Each beer is judged alone against the BJCP style standard. A group of three or four judges are given the same beer without knowing anything except the style it was entered under. Entrants can give some basic information such as ‘dry hopped’ or ‘serve chilled’, but usually all entries are tasted at room temperature because it brings out the flavours and faults.

First judges look at the beer, inspecting for clarity, colour and any floating bits. They’ll take a sniff and maybe make some notes. I like to take a sniff and think about what I’m noticing, then take another sniff to see if my initial impressions are reinforced or changed. Then I’ll take a sip, swirl it around my mouth and, yes, swallow it. Beer’s too important to spit out. Then it’s another sip to see how initial taste impressions stand up.

For many of the entries, that’s it – done. Judges discuss the beer and may take another sniff or sip to test other judges’ thoughts. Even if they do, they will taste about one tablespoon of your pride and joy. Then the ratings are combined to produce your score.

It will all be over in a couple of minutes then it’s time to move on to the next entry. One year we judged more than 100 beers in a day. Any outstanding beers move on to another round where they are re-evaluated and discussed in depth. The final winner is often the result of a fair bit of debate and a vote.

So how do you make your beer stand out from the crowd? Here’s a few ideas:
• Learn to recognise basic flaws such as diacetyl, sulphur and acetylaldehydes. These are the by-products of bad fermentation that give home-brew its bad rep. Beers are judged for their flaws before they are judged for their merits, so being able to produce a clean beer is more important than being innovative.

• Taste your beer before you enter it. Every year we get beers that are marked down because they’re entered in an inappropriate style. Don’t worry about fashion or the title of the recipe – taste your beer, then pick the style.

• Push the style boundaries. Popular styles will have ten or more entries, all tasted one after the other. If you go for the high end of the alcohol range, or push it on the hopping, your entry will stand out from those that play it by the book.

• Your beer has to stand out at first sip. High-alcohol and high-flavour styles, like Imperial Stouts or Barleywines, dominate the final round.

If you get a chance to be involved in judging, jump right in. The worst home brews do carry notes of nail-polish remover, but the best ones are better than a commercial beer, because they are prepared for flavour regardless of cost.

If you’re interested in pre-judging, get in touch.

Cheers and good luck to all the entrants.
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©Martin Craig. No reproduction without permission.

Filed under: Gushing forth, Reviews  |   Tagged under beer, BJCP, home brew, judging, SOBA | 6 Comments »

Morton Coutts was New Zealand’s most influential brewer, but he had some strange ideas about hops.

I was at the Macs Brewery Bar in Wellington last week with a colleague. He had a Mac’s Gold and when it came to getting a second round, I suggested he try a Hopsmacker Hoprocker and tell me if he liked the difference.

He told me the Hoprocker had more flavour and was more bitter. “That’s hops, mate”, I said, “and beer isn’t beer if it doesn’t have hops”.

I didn’t know my friend was a Morton Coutts’ grandnephew. Morton invented the continuous fermentation technique used by industrial breweries around the world. You can think what you like about industrial brewing, but there’s no doubt that Morton’s invention has had a bigger impact on the brewing world that anything else to come out of New Zealand.

Morton died in 2004 at the age of 100. He was a creative inventor in many fields throughout his life, and when he was well into his 90s he still had free access to an experimental brewing lab with a full-time assistant.

My friend’s last memory of Morton was a discussion they had a few years before Morton died. His grandnephew asked what Morton was getting up to in his brew lab, and was told he was working on ways to make flavourful commercial beer with no hops in it. Why?

Morton apparently believed that hops are responsible for making beer drinkers violent and aggressive. Beer was made without hops before 1400, and Morton believed the historical records showed that early beer drinkers went home happy and full of the joys of the world.

Once hops were used, Morton said, beer drinkers became nasty drunks and beer became associated with violence. Morton told his grandnephew that the social costs of drinking should not be blamed entirely on alcohol, because the psychoactive effects of hops were also partly to blame, and he blamed hops’ botanical relationship to cannabis – they are both members of the Cannabaceae family.

Interesting theory. Of course, this was just as slapper juice RTDs were introduced so Morton didn’t get to witness violence triggered by alcohol, caffeine, sugar and artificial colourings. Hops do contain dimethylethylcarbinol, which produces similar effects to ethanol but is much more powerful. Its effects include inducing sleep, rather than starting fights.

For what it’s worth, I reckon I can handle my hops without getting too violent. But maybe Epic knew more that it was saying when it named its hoppiest offering ‘Armageddon’!

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©Martin Craig. No reproduction without permission.

Filed under: Beer Bars, Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under Epic, hops, Macs, Morton Coutts | 86 Comments »

What do you get when you take our most respected brewer, our best beer retailer, our oldest beer writer, 30 young, passionate and good-looking beer fans and 9% craft beers?

I’m asking because my memory is cloudy.

Last weekend Regional Wines hosted another annual Master Class with Richard Emerson. Richard is the Willie Wonka behind Emerson’s brewery in Dunedin, and gets huge respect from beer drinkers, home brewers and fellow brewers in New Zealand and overseas. He’s good craic too.

Richard’s class was co-hosted by Geoff Griggs, our oldest beer writer and the most experienced. He plays a good straight man and helped guide us through the tasting. Kieran Haslett-Moore is the beer specialist at Regional Wines and is responsible for keeping the best beer range in town fully stocked and turning over.

The three of them live and love beer and their combined knowledge is massive. Richard runs three tasting Master Classes at Regional every winter – 90 seats are available every year and this time they sold out in 90 minutes. If you like beer and want to learn more about it, make sure you register your details with Regional and pounce on the opportunity next year.

The tasting took us through a range of nine Emerson’s beers, many no longer available, including some that were not sold commercially.

Richard’s treasure chest revealed a mystery beer that had been stored for four years. We were invited to sample this one and pick it. It was fruity and malty with perhaps a hint of Belgian muskiness – well done to the man who guessed it was originally a hoppy, bright APA.

Another surprise was a 2009 Taieri George. I never really ‘got’ this spiced ale, but the comparison with the 2010 showed it ages very well and can be expected to improve with time. It comes out every March and sells fast – your next chance will be in 2011 and then you’ll have to let it rest for a while – perhaps until the All Whites win in Brazil.

We tried three versions of Emerson’s JP, another annual special with a different recipe each year, all keeping a Belgian theme. One was an experiment from 2006, which wasn’t commercially released. The 2009 JP won the trophy for flavoured and aged styles at last year’s Beervana – Richard predicts, “this will be a fantastic beer in ten year’s time”. The 2010 JP is available now, but don’t wait. It is a hoppy, New-World interpretation of Duvel with a prominent blend of five different hops. It wasn’t designed to be cellared.

The Emerson’s Regional Master Classes are unmissable – get there next year.

Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews  |   Tagged under Emersons, Regional | 4 Comments »

What do you say when a friend tells you all beer tastes the same?

People who pride themselves on good taste in wine will tell you they can’t tell one beer from another. Those who know good coffee will say they’ve never had a good beer. I can completely sympathise with beer sceptics, because it’s quite possible they have never had a decent one in their lives.

Take the current promotion running at St John’s Bar, a Wellington Heineken joint. Called “Around the World”, it says, “We shout you 4 free beers from different parts of the world”. The multinational range? – Sol (lager, Mexico); Monteith’s (NZ brown lager); Heineken (lager, brewed in NZ); and Tiger (lager, brewed in NZ).

Taste your way around that lot and you’ll come away thinking, “Yes, I’ve tried to like beer but it really does all taste the same. Pass the wine list please.”

The sad fact is that many Kiwis have only ever tried two different beer styles – premium lager and New Zealand brown lager, aka Draught. The Around the World event has both styles, so there’s nothing novel there. Three of the four are made in the same brewery, by the same people, using the same equipment. That’s not Around the World.

It’s disappointing that the bar industry is still treating its most important product in this ignorant way. I genuinely believe St John’s promotion is shortsighted and could end up losing customers. It will either drive punters away from beer, or to bars that offer a better range.

As for describing three New Zealand beers and one Mexican as “Around the World”, I just believe that’s disrespectful to punters who deserve to be treated honestly. I accept that bars do not have a duty to educate customers, but I don’t accept that misinforming them is OK. It might be giving them beer but it is definitely taking the piss.

What do you think – do some bars sell themselves short in the way they market and present their beer?

Filed under: Around the country, Beer Bars, Beer Makers, Gushing forth  |   Tagged under Heineken, Monteiths, Sol, Tiger | 8 Comments »

I was at the Malthouse on Saturday for the third West Coast IPA Challenge. I was expecting hops, hops and nothing but hops, but I didn’t get it. And that’s a good thing.

Now don’t get me wrong – there’s no shortage of healthy, resinous, clears-the-sinuses American hops in both Epic Armageddon and Hallertau Maximus Hopulus Lupulus, and I’m a big fan of just that kind of beer.

What surprised me is how well-rounded both brews taste. I missed the West Coast Challenge last year, and I seem to remember the first WCIPAC gave us strongly hopped but one-dimensional beers. (Forgive me if that’s not your recollection – my memory is imperfect and I work to make it worse.) So I was expecting one-trick ponies, but instead I had two beers that were balanced, not brutal. The hops were there by the sack load, but they were balanced by other flavours resulting in big, confident beers that called me back for a second glass.

Hallertau’s MHL has floral and spice notes floating over the prominent West Coast hops. The flavour is resinous with a long, bitter tail. Epic Armageddon bears an obvious family resemblance to Epic IPA – it’s like the full-race version of a family V8. If I had to choose between them (and I don’t) I’d rate the Hallertau the winner for hop presence, and Epic the winner for a strong, impressive beer with good balance. It’s so balanced you could happily match it with spicy food, if beer and food matching is your fancy.

Going hell for leather on the hops has been one of the most obvious characteristics of New Zealand craft beers in recent years. Epic IPA probably started the trend in 2006 – compare it to Little Creatures IPA and you’ll taste how hops dominate the New Zealand interpretation of the style. Tuatara Pilsner, too, shows a much heavier hop presence than is typical for the style – even the definitive Czech pilsners.

But I’m detecting a change in beer fashion. We’ve done the full-frontal hops thing, and now I believe craft brewers are taking things a step forward by balancing hops off against the flavours and aromas of the malt and yeast.

If malt is your thing, check out the Malthouse’s own Stingo. This weekend Regional Wines and Spirits launches its own beer, co-brewed with Emerson’s. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s based on Extra Special Bitter so I’m predicting it will be a well-rounded offering with influential malt presence.

What’s your thoughts? Are we looking for more balance, or is too much hops never enough?

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©Martin Craig. No reproduction without permission.

Filed under: Beer Bars, Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews  |   Tagged under APA, Emersons, Epic, Hallertau, IPA, Malthouse, Regional | 7 Comments »

I travel the country for work (business travel, that is – I’m not a hobo*). So I’m regularly looking for something interesting in towns where Monteiths is flash and the Chinese restaurant is exotic.

This month I was in Northland. The forests are subtropical but finding a good beer is like finding an oasis in the desert.

Here’s some impressions and a challenge:

Lion Red/Speight’s is available just about everywhere. Develop a taste for this one and you’ll be replete.

The Duke of Marlborough in Russell claims to be the oldest pub in the country. So do at least two others so I’ll let them sort that out between themselves. It does have a great view across the Bay of Islands and a decent beer list featuring a good, simple range of New Zealand craft lagers and ales, including most of the Founder’s range and one or two Emersons’. No hurry here – if you miss the next ferry there’s always another one in half an hour.

Across the bay in Paihia there are lots of cafes and restaurants with wine lists aimed at the tourist. Local beers are almost impossible to find. The local bottle store has an impressive wine range but, according to the owner, there’s no point stocking craft beer because no one asks for it. That bottle store is for sale.

Frank’s Pizza Bar and Cafe on the Paihia waterfront is a basic cafe with a range of imported premium beer including Hoegaarden and Pilsner Urquell. Cheers Frank – throw a few decent local beers on to the list and you’ll have the town to yourself.

Whangarei has an unsurprising mix of bars. You can find Guinness, Stella and Hoegaarden on tap and won’t have any trouble finding Monteiths.

Reva’s restaurant on the Town Basin had Sassy Red on tap. I ordered a glass. Five minutes later the waitress came back empty handed. “That wine you ordered isn’t available tonight”…

Brauhaus Frings is the only brewery in Northland and it had three of its own beers on tap when I visited – premium lager, draught and old ale. They are clean and competent examples that obviously appeal to the locals. All of the Frings brews are more mainstream than craft in their flavour and finish, and to be honest I was left underwhelmed.

Of the three, the old ale was my favourite although I suspect the lager yeast was used in this one. The brewers weren’t around on either of my visits, so please correct me if I’m wrong. Frings website www.frings.co.nz says it offers seasonal brews, but none was available early in July.

So here’s my challenge to Brauhaus Frings. This compact little outfit obviously has the passion, skills and equipment to produce the good stuff. It’s in a town and region crying out for a good craft beer. Why not develop a flagship local beer that will push the local palate and provide a distinctly Northland beer for locals and tourists alike? Call it something local like ‘Flagstaff’, and make sure it’s a good match for the outstanding Northland fish & chips. ‘Down a Flagstaff tonight’.

Northlanders – let me know if there’s anything I missed. Next week – Weapons of Hop Construction – the IPA Challenge.

*According to family lore, I have ancestors who “travelled with the gypsies”. We weren’t gypsies mind, we just travelled with them.

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©Martin Craig. No reproduction without permission.

Filed under: Around the country, Beer Bars, Beer Makers, Reviews  |   Tagged under Brauhaus Frings, Northland | No Comments »

Think of winter beers, and you’ll usually be looking at porters, stouts or strong ales. But the last few weeks have seen a sudden round of new, hoppy pale ales hit the bars, and over the weekend I set out to try a few.

Epic Pale Ale set a benchmark four years ago when it introduced many New Zealanders to the grassy, green pine needle aromas of American hops. It was recently joined by Tuatara APA, which takes the green hop aroma a touch further but has more prominent malts. Both use imported American hops including Cascade – you just can’t replicate this distinctive resinous flavour with hops grown outside the northwestern USA.

Renaissance brewery in Marlborough will probably disagree with me there – its APA uses locally sourced Cascade and Willamette hops that just don’t seem to be a brash as their US cousins. Or perhaps it’s the slightly lower alcohol content – Renaissance APA comes in at 4.5% while most of the other beers I sampled were more like 5.5%-6%, and alcohol does carry flavour.

Emerson’s Brewery in Dunedin releases limited edition Brewers Reserve beers each month. I don’t know if this is brewers having fun or if it is carefully analysed market research, and I don’t care. I get to try a new beer each month from the best-respected brewer in the country. This month’s offering is Hoppiest Indian, which combines US Cascade with High Alpha New Zealand hops. It works, and another, tweaked version is promised soon. Try it if you find it, and try to find it.

Yeastie Boys is the most innovative commercial brewer in the country and its Yakima Monster is another example of resinous American pales. Yakima is one half of a Yeastie experiment – the other is Motueka Monster. These brews use the same malt and yeast, but Yakima is fuelled with US hops and Motueka’s hops are from – anyone like to guess? I haven’t tried them head-to-head yet but American hops smoke my tyres, and Yakima Monster displays them cleanly. It was my favourite from a hoppy weekend.

Not a bad mob at all – what did you try this weekend?

If too much hops is never enough for you, look out next week for the third annual West Coast IPA Challenge where Epic and Hallertau go head-to-head with weapons of hop construction.

More soon.

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©Martin Craig. No reproduction without permission.

Filed under: Beer Makers, Gushing forth, Reviews  |   Tagged under APA, Cascade, Emersons, Epic, Pale Ale, Renaissance, Tuatara, Yeastie Boys | No Comments »

There’s never been a better time to enjoy New Zealand beer.

NZ Beer Blog is an enthusiastic, subjective, opinionated and independent celebration of New Zealand beer and brewing. We’ll look at the best places to enjoy New Zealand beer, industry news and present compelling reasons for trying a new beer this weekend.

I’m Martin Craig. I am a freelance business journalist and researcher. After work I enjoying conducting further research into the brewing business, research I’ve been conducting at my own expense for many years now. I’ve also been a beer judge, experimented with home brewing, and advised on beer lists.

Wellington is a great place to enjoy great beer at present, and I’m especially lucky me Da got off the boat here. Stepping out of my front gate, I can turn right and walk to the Malthouse in ten minutes. With about 160 different beers available, the Malthouse is currently New Zealand’s leading beer bar. If I turn left, I can be at Regional Wines and Spirits in ten minutes too. This bottle store is a unique resource for the local beer fan, with 11 taps featuring a revolving range of New Zealand beers for patrons to fill their own flagons. There’s usually something for everyone included in the range, and you can find short-run brews that are not available in bottles. The craft beers here cost about the same as mainstream premium lager from the supermarket – bargain!

My personal tastes run to the hoppy end of the spectrum and American Pale Ale is probably my (current) favourite style. But as I age I’m starting to appreciate balance more and I’m especially enjoying seeing (and tasting) New Zealand brewers producing international beer styles with local ingredients. I believe this will generate some genuinely indigenous New Zealand beer styles. With our respected ingredients and talented brewers, it won’t be long before the world starts copying us.

So cheers, enjoy NZ Beer Blog, and enjoy New Zealand beer.

 Martin

Filed under: Around the country, Beer Bars, Gushing forth  | | 3 Comments »