Cultural cringe with Kia Ora IPA

Are there any new trends in beer? Southland's hop revolution. How craft brewing made non-alc cool. Hilarious response to strict Canadian drinking guidelines.

Happy Friday Beer Lovers

And good luck to those in Auckland, where anniversary weekend looks like it’s going to be good for indoor drinking only.

However, if you’re in the vicinity of Christchurch the weather looks great for the Great Kiwi Beer Festival tomorrow and there are still some general admission tickets available.

After the drama of last week, the news cycle has calmed down a little but I see the subject of cultural appropriation is back in the news after Italian craft beer brand Liquida put out a “Kia Ora” IPA.

In fact, this is not even cultural appropriation, but total cultural insensitivity and I find it hard to believe it keeps happening. Plus those eyes look kinda sad.

I don’t know about you, but I reckon if a New Zealand brewery made an Italian Pilsner and called it Il Duce or Mafioso, or something equally offensive, such as Pineapple on Pizza… well the Italians would be pretty unhappy.

We’ve been talking about this for a few years now but the message hasn’t moved from Britain to Italy, it seems.

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What’s the buzz?

I’m not one for predicting trends. The future is always crazy. Just look at the past! But I was interested in some of the responses to this Twitter post by American beer writer Jeff Alworth:

Jeff Alworth @Beervana

Just listened to @beercruncher tell Jamie on the @CraftBeerBrew pod that “there aren’t any new trends in beer right now.” He qualified the statement, but I don’t think he needed to. I don’t think there has been a real new trend for years. Thoughts?

It made me wonder what justified a “trend”. By definition, a trend is a movement in a general direction … it’s not a product per se. So, I don’t see Hazy IPA or fruited sours as a trend, in and of themselves, but they are part of a broader movement of beer. And to me, the trend that’s been going on for a few years now is in the direction away from bitterness. Perhaps that’s in reaction to those very bitter beers of the early 21^st century. But it’s also hop breeding, technology/knowledge (especially around the biotransformation of hops), and developments in ways brewers use fruit and other additions such as vanilla, cacao, and lactose. I think history has shown humans prefer sweet things over bitter and we’ve definitely seen a slide away from bitter and towards sweeter beer options. So while pastry stouts and dessert sours and hazies are not individually trends in themselves, they ae part of collective push towards lush, sweet, rich flavours.

I do have one other prediction/guess: I think there will be growth in homebrewing in the coming years. If/when the price of beer goes up substantially that will be a spark for it. Better equipment, better access to ingredients, better knowledge … all of those make home brewing more approachable and easier. And I think there will be a rise in groups of people forming little homebrew clubs, combining their budgets and time to brew, say, 60-100 litres which they will share.

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Beer(s) of the Week No 1

This is two beers under a theme — the basis for which is my wife, who loves hazies but is more inclined these days to want them in smaller cans (330ml vs 440ml) and under 6 per cent. So we’ve been sampling a few six-packs, as this is the best way to get those 330ml hazies.

First up for a test drive was Deep Creek Zenith which ticked all the requisite flavour boxes. Sweet orange citrus, pineapple, low bitterness, great mouthfeel (her words not, mine).  It just ticked the 6 per cent threshold but she was very impressed with it.

Second up, I wanted to commend Emerson’s for putting a best-before date on the OUTSIDE of a Hazed & Confused 6-pack box. That really helps punters like me make informed decisions without resorting to opening boxes and pulling out cans. And this beer is the real deal. Huge flavour, and a bit more bitterness than Zenith, with a 5.8% ABV. It was in the sweet spot. The one sip I had convinced me I needed an entire can (I just had to get that Riwaka hop hit) and the quality of the beer was such that when I said I was going to have said can, Deirdre protested: “But they're mine!” LOL

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Southern hops on a high

A couple of years ago I wrote about an experimental push for growing hops in Southland. It started small but it now looks like the region could be on its way to something big. And see if you can spot the prominent Wellington brewery founder in the crowd mid-story in this video.

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