Fortune Favours Future Uncertain
Garage Project, Lion team-up in new project. Growing hops indoors. Science answers the question: what's better for your beer, glass or can?
Gidday Beer Fans and welcome to Friday Night Beers.
I hope you had a great Easter and a bunch of nice beers. Lots to get through tonight, so I’ll cut the preamble and hook in…
The future of Fortune Favours is uncertain after their major shareholder Kāpura (formerly Wellington Hospitality Group) was effectively taken over by DB.
As we reported a few weeks back, the deal really hits Wellington’s hospitality scene but the biggest fish caught up in the net is Fortune Favours.
Fortune Favours is 71%-owned by Kāpura, which has been folded into DB-owned Star Hospitality, which also includes Auckland’s Joylab.
Founder and CEO Shannon Thorpe owns 25% of Fortune Favours and brewer Dale Cooper has 4%.
I spoke to Thorpe about what the sale of Kāpura meant for the brewery and taproom. He said it was a complex transaction, especially around the distribution deal Fortune Favours has with Coca-Cola. A final deal will be done in the not too distant future.
“If I knew what was going to happen, I would tell you but it’s still being worked through,” Thorpe said. “It will likely mean fewer Fortune Favours beers on tap as Kapura / Star Hospitality transitions taps to DB Breweries but this won’t happen immediately and will play out over a period of time.”
Thorpe said he knew change was coming in some form as Kāpura had been looking for equity funding.
Kāpura founders Jamie Williams and Andrew Williams will continue as shareholders in Star Hospitality, with Williams the chief executive of Star Hospitality.
Beer of the week No 1
North End are quietly celebrating their 10th anniversary with a range of draught-only beers that you can pick up around various high-quality pubs and taprooms. The Full Circle White IPA is quickly going high on my list of best beers of the year but then I’m a sucker for a White IPA, especially one made with lemongrass. This is surprisingly sweet initially with bubblegum, mango and sweet lemon tart on the nose before the edginess of the lemongrass and hops kicks in as well as a yeasty bite. I just enjoyed this no end, North End.
The other beers in the series are Tooth & Nail, a classic Czech Pilsner brewed in conjunction with Townshend and Milestone IPA, a long-boil IPA which was boiled for seven hours (seven hours! Take that Dogfish Head and your 90-minute boil!). This is rich English-style IPA with a lovely texture and a deep hop character, like the hops are really embedded in there.
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