Liberty's third win in Malthouse WCIPA Challenge is bliss amidst stress
God Of War being rebrewed for can release. Smell of hops can change your brainwaves. Chills legend Martin Phillipps remembered for brewery gigs. Canyon Brewing's ticket treat.
August is upon us beer fans and that means two things: tomorrow night it’s the annual New Zealand Beer Awards being held in Auckland and later this month it’s Beervana time.
So good luck to all the breweries entered in the NZ Beer Awards. As always we’ll have all the details on the website as soon as possible after the event.
But on to a competition of a different kind: the annual Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge.
And we can bring you the welcome news that high demand for Liberty Brewing’s winner God of War means an upcoming can release after the beer was originally brewed as keg-only.
“We’ve re-brewed it and will be releasing it in cans in a few weeks’ time. You gotta make hay while the sun shines,” says Liberty’s Joe Wood.
It was the third Malthouse WCIPA Challenge title for Liberty who claimed the Golden Gumboots trophy.
Another three-time winner, Epic, were second with Atari Baby (6.7%) while Brave Brewing third with Dreamcast (6.5%); and the much sought-after People’s Choice went to McLeod’s High Country (6.5%).
Liberty triumphed with the classic Knife Party (2013) and The Kush (2017).
Wood wasn’t in Wellington for the event but at home in West Auckland “cooking some steaks on the barbecue and had completely forgotten about it” he told Pursuit of Hoppiness correspondent JoAnne Carr.
But when he received the winning phone call, he started screaming: “We won!! We won!! We won!!” His partner was baffled at the sudden spike in celebrations.
Joe says winning “brought so much satisfaction”. He’s been frank about mental health challenges he’s endured in recent years and is in no doubt — given the relentless conditions facing the entire beer industry — that others are likely feeling the same.
“We’re battling hard — I think 80% of the breweries out there are battling in one way or another. We are all doing it so tough.
“[The win] came as such a huge relief because the whole process of brewing and owning a brewery — especially at the moment — is really stressful.”
By way of emphasis, he adds, “The reason why we weren’t there was because we couldn’t afford it. Every last dollar we have right now needs to go into the business.”
He is quick to shout out the Liberty team. “They have been so supportive and able to step up — this was one for the team.
“The funny thing is, we didn’t have a big plan around this beer or ‘let’s try something new’. It was literally what we had leftover around the brewery at that time that we could bring together.
“But I said let’s give the judges a beer that stands out; we can’t just make what we normally do. We had this idea to use Cryo hops in the dry hop — it’s a pretty trick,” he says with a laugh.
“It was quite a wholesome experience. Knowing we can do the best in the country, in the worst of circumstances.”
Head judge Kelly Ryan said the 23 judges, sourced from breweries, hospo, suppliers, the wider industry and seasoned beer palates, did an excellent job sorting the 31 entries.
“The judges did an exceptional job given the high quality of beers they were presented with. We had a wonderful cross-section of palates to ensure we achieved what we were setting out to do — to find the best American style IPA in Aotearoa,” he says.
“All the beers were judged blind and the calibre was fantastic — particularly on the final table where the top seven beers were judged.
“It was a very tight race between the top three. Judges focused hard on selecting beers that were a great representation of WCIPAs — American hop intensity, a solid, balanced bitterness and of course, drinkability.”
Kelly says there was very intense discussion amongst judges when it came down to the top three. However, the eventual winner was a majority, hands-down favourite.
“Liberty’s God of War was a standout due to its big tropical hop aromatics, well-balanced malt body, firm bitterness and overall smooth drinkability. It just drank so well,” he says.
Kudos to Canyon for “ticket” stunt
Make hay while the sun shines, they say, but how about “make beer when the snow falls”?
Heavy snow hit Queenstown this week and it meant skiers wanting to head up Coronet Peak had to leave their cars and take buses as the access road was too dangerous.
About 100 cars were parked, many in unusual places, at the bottom of Coronet Peak on Tuesday.
Later, a local man, Carl Te Namu was passing by when he noticed a number of cars appeared to have parking tickets on the windscreens.
As Stuff reported, he took to a popular Facebook page Queenstown Trading saying that it appeared the Queenstown Lakes District Council had hit the jackpot and ticketed about 100 cars.
“I’m a ratepayer but I don’t approve of this type of revenue gathering,” he said.
But the only ones gathering revenue were nearby Canyon Brewing!
The “tickets” were issued under the name “Canyon Brewing District Beer Council” with the breach on the ticket noted as: “Not drinking enough Canyon beer today” with an offer of a 20% discount.
Honestly, I have to give a huge hat-tip to Canyon for a) just thinking of the idea; and b) designing and printing the “tickets” so quickly. That’s some game they’ve got.
The original story from Stuff said Canyon could face a fine of their own, with a council investigation underway.
Thankfully the authorities have seen the lighter side of things and no action will be taken. Very sensible!
Beer of the Week No 1
It’s taken me a while to get to this one but holy moly it was worth the wait. Mount Brewing Shades of the Pacific won the annual NZ Stout Challenge hosted by Moon Under Water and Punky Brewster in Christchurch in June.
And look, a lot of stouts use vanilla, cacao, coffee etc but this is an example of how to layer those different ingredients so that the drinking experience is a flow of flavours. I’m not entirely sure how they’ve done it, but everything is there and separate, yet somehow all together. Even amongst all those powerhouse flavours the orange notes are just there, pinging away. The coconut is weighted to perfection as it the vanilla — both of which are flavours that can run away with the show if not kept in check.
And it’s almost unbelievable that this is 7.8% abv. It’s like saying a piece of cake is 7.8% abv!
Anyway, very good beer. Buy. Drink. Delight
Relax, and smell the beer
The following comes to me via American hop guru Stan Hieronymus:
Scientists at Sapporo in Japan have discovered that beer relaxes us. Well, yes, we know that. But in particular they noted the power of certain hops to bring on feelings of relaxation by smell alone — possibly something known all along by aromatherapists.
In this case, the scientists measured brainwave activity to show that yes, hops cause actual changes in our brains.
They measured participants when they were smelling beer, then later in an experiment that included drinking the beer.
They found that when subjects smelled the essential oil extract from Saazer hops, the rhythm of the frequency fluctuation of alpha waves significantly increased in regularity, showing that the subjects felt a lower level of arousal and became more relaxed.
The degree of comfortableness increased with an increased concentration of the hop oil.
The researchers also measured the relaxing effect of four components found in hop oil. When the subjects smelled linalool or geraniol, the rhythm of the frequency fluctuation of alpha waves again increased in regularity, showing that the subjects became more relaxed. But neither humulene nor myrcene impacted the brainwaves of subjects.
The subjects reported feeling relaxed by the aromas of linalool and geraniol because they provided floral and green impressions. In the follow-up study that included drinking beer, researchers found (in short) that drinking a European pilsner was more relaxing than drinking a stout. Which means it was the hop aromas that made the difference.
The scientists also advocated for sipping beer rather than gulping it.
“While drinking beer, we need to perform a series of actions, such as lifting the glass by hand, carrying it to the mouth, using facial muscles for drinking, and processing a lot of stimuli, such as odours, tastes, and tactile sensations in the nose, mouth, and throat.
“Many beer brands, particularly in Japan, promote their palatability through the concept of refreshment while drinking in big gulps. However, there is another type of palatability linked to relaxation, that of slowly sipping a glass of beer.”
So there you go. Forget the roses. Stop and smell the hops!
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
Lovely winter arvo brew here in a new iteration of Grizzly — a 6% robust porter from Laughing Bones. Rich, toasty malts meets coffee-choc upfront with an undercurrent of vanilla sweetness on a smooth mouthfeel tying everything together before departing with a drying finish. Tasty drop that hits the spot.
Chills legend was great supporter of Emerson’s
The late music legend Martin Phillipps, who died this week aged 61, was inherently connected with the New Zealand craft beer scene through his relationship with Richard Emerson.
The Chills played at various Emerson’s brewery “opening nights” including the most recent in 2016.
Phillipps went to the same high school as Richard, at Logan Park. And at the 2016 opening, I spoke to him after their performance — and he talked about the fact that while he’d known Richard for 40 years he still had trouble reconciling his deafness with a love of music.
“I still don’t fully understand his love of music. I want to know: what is he actually hearing? He talks about feeling the bass in his chest — which is something we all feel — but he can distinguish his favourite songs, so it’s more complex than that.”
He added: “I think Richard’s one of the most inspirational people in this town.”
Given many would say the same and more about Phillipps, it was high praise.
Richard posted the following photo on his Facebook page, capturing Phillipps in action at the old Wickliffe St brewery.
Tim’s Beer of the Week
The theme for the recent Malthouse West Coast IPA challenge was video games, and one such gamified drop from Christchurch’s Two Thumb harkens (almost) all the way back to the beginning with Snake. US Strata and Simcoe are supported by local Superdelic, the combination of which drives a remarkably ‘tutti-frutti’ aroma of sweet red berries over sharper citrus and lush tropicals. Juicy and generous malt combines with pithy grapefruit, tinned fruit salad and more ripe berry crush. The bitterness, while starting off gently, steadily builds into the finish to become one of the mightiest I’ve tasted in a while. Big, powerful WCIPA with just a little bit of a local twist. — Tim Newman
Beervana welcomes German breweries
If you wanted a reason to go to Beervana, the international line up is sensational this year.
Due to reasons that don’t need explaining, Beervana’s international showcase has been on hiatus since 2019. But it’s back in 2024 and the Germans are bringing their beers to our shores! (And they’ve left the Reinheitsgebot law at home.)
“This year features the highest number of international breweries exhibiting since Beervana hosted USA, Japan and the UK in 2019,” says Beervana manager Ryan McArthur.
He wanted three German breweries that portray the breadth of brewing history, creativity and beer styles in the German landscape.
“I wanted an older brewery with a traditional approach, like wheat beers and lagers; a new world, international approach to brewing with and a specialty brewery,” he says.
The three star German breweries are:
Schneeeule (Berlin) is the one-woman brewery that single-handedly revived the traditional German-style Berliner Weisse — a cloudy, sour beer style that had all but disappeared from the city it’s named for. Brewer, Ulrike Genz, discovered some old Berliner Weisse bottles in a vault and cultivated the yeast to bring the style back to life.
Schneider Weisse (Kelheim) is a weissbier (wheat beer) brewing company bringing traditional top-fermented wheat beers unaltered from the original 1872 recipe, now created by a seventh generation of the Schneider family.
Sudden Death (Lübeck) is boutique brewery known for its modern approach including hop-forward US-styles and the highest-rated fruited sours in Germany.
Alongside the International invitationals, Piccadilly, an importer of German beer, adds to the showcase with beer from Hofbrau, Paulaner, Lowenbrau, Weihenstephaner as well as the first official shipment of Ayinger.
Finally, it wouldn’t be an international showcase without brewers from each brewery attending to pour and chat beers — which also means international/Kiwi brewery collabs are back on the table.
Sudden Death are working with Duncan’s on a Mango Pudding Smoothie Sour, while Schneider Weisse are teaming up with Double Vision on a special concoction using the German brewery’s house yeast. Schneeeule are working on something special to be released after Beervana, so watch this space.
And of course, speaking of internationals, there are four Aussie breweries: Blackflag, Moffat Beach, and Brouhaha are all returning, while Coolum Beer Company are here for the first time.
For a full run down check out this story: International Acts Star at Beervana 2024 | Pursuit of Hoppiness
Beer of the Week No 2
I’m back out of manflu wilderness and can taste again. And what a way to celebrate cleared sinuses — Sawmill’s just released Red IPA. I wouldn’t say I’m a world expert on Red IPA, but I’ve tried hard to get there by sampling as many as possible — and this, friends, is the real deal. It’s so good, I said out loud: “Yum”. It’s got all the toffee-caramel goodness you want, which softens you up for the one-two palate punch of hop-driven berry notes and deeply righteous pine-orange bitterness that swerves towards crossing the centre line but stays in its lane. Delightful and perfect for winter drinking.
Life goals — 50,000 beers
I loved this first-person piece, linked below from the Guardian in which Andy Morton describes how he’s been able to try over 50,000 different beers and keep a record of them all (and it’s not on Untappd)
The most festivals I’ve done in a single year is 109 – that was in 2004. Festivals usually run for two or three days, and I might try anything from a handful to 16 or 17 half pints. I also mark down every cask beer I have when I go to the pub. I don’t score the beers – I just note the name, date, venue, price, brewery and alcohol percentage.
I drink a lot less these days. You have to be conscious of drinking too much and knowing when you’ve had enough. It’s not about getting drunk, it’s about ticking beer. I average out at fewer than four pints a day, and cask beer generally has a lower alcohol percentage, about 3.5% to 5%. I did once try one that was 23%. It was so strong that I forgot to mark it down in my notebook.
Experience: I’ve tried 50,000 beers | Beer | The Guardian
An update from Aussie
The Crafty Pint in Australia reported this week that Deeds Brewing are set to return to brewing some months after they announced they were ceasing operations. That said, the brewery's return is likely to be for an undetermined amount of time rather than permanent.
Pat Alé, who co-founded the brewery with Dave Milstein, says that following their time in voluntary administration in March and subsequent decision to wind down in May after they failed to secure a buyer, they're now looking to brew a number of new beers and reopen the taproom too.
"The next step is just having a plan on how we close out in a more constructive way," Pat told The Crafty Pint.
They executed a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) in June as a means to offer better certainty to their staff, while providing something to their creditors, and giving them the opportunity to work through their stock.
Pat says as they were headed towards liquidation they realised there would be little left over from the administrators' fees, and also that they faced a lengthy process to ensure their staff's entitlements would be paid out.
"We realised ... the administrators would basically get all the excess funds in fees so we pivoted and put forward a DOCA," he says.
"It means suppliers get something, even though it's a minimal amount; they would have got nothing if it went into liquidation. And it means staff get their entitlements, while there's a lot of inventory here that just would have been dumped."
Although entitlements are protected when a business goes into liquidation, Pat says it's a slower and less certain process than going through the one they've chosen.
Beer of the Week No 3
Sometimes I struggle to get my favourite NZ Hops trial hops in order of preference. Lately we’ve had — I think — NZH-105, NZH-106, NZH-109, NZH-110 and NZH-111. I can’t recall seeing a 108 … but it could be out there somewhere! But I digress. I loved 106 in Sprig & Fern’s Headliner and Encore beers and while 110 and 111 were outstanding in a couple of recent 8 Wired releases, while I hear great reviews about Parrtdog’s latest Bright IPA release with 109. But I’m back on the 106 train with Urbanaut’s Opito Bay Double IPA. Now I didn’t really need an 8% IPA on a Wednesday night, but this is so light and lively it doesn’t feel like that kind of ABV weight at all. What it does do is showcase the intense fruit salad character of the NZH-106 hop. It has a little bit of lime citrus to brighten up the richer tropicals and is dangerously enjoyable
.
That’s me for another week! Take care, enjoy the games and don’t swallow bottle tops.
Michael