Liquidated distributor speaks up
Hop And Vine owner Terry Mitchell explains what went wrong. Urbanaut brew a world-first (I think) fresh hop non-alcoholic beer & it's damn good. Duncan's taproom officially open. An ode to Speight's.
Gidday beer friends,
First up, I missed a small milestone the other week — the third birthday of this newsletter!
I started with a humble 322 subscribers who migrated across from the newsletter that used to emanate from my website before I moved to Substack.
Now there are almost 1800 of you! I’m so happy you all tune in each week. And for those of you who are paid subscribers, I can’t thank you enough for investing in what I do. May your beer always be fresh and cold.
This week’s edition is super-long because I’ve added a few extra “beers of the week” to tide us over until the other side of the Easter break. So if your email provider “clips” the email, just hit the button to load more.
And so we begin …
Following last week’s story about the liquidation of Hop And Vine, I’d been keen to talk to owner Terry Mitchell about the reasons for their demise after more than 25 years in business.
Terry, who started the business with his wife Carole in 1999, got back to me this week with a statement in which he said the loss of three potential new customers combined with changing drinking habits and tough economic conditions were the drivers of the liquidation.
“We’ve been humbled by the messages of support received from across the industry. This is not the way we ever intended to exit.
“In 2024, we were approached to form a merged business — ABV — combining our sales and distribution expertise with a 3PL model, based on the assumption that three new brands would come on board. However, the reality deviated from this vision:
“One brand never came on board and has since ceased trading.
“The second had previously been in liquidation. We underestimated the effort required to rebuild credibility, but with a new, credible brewer on board and significant work from our team, after 4 months we began to see progress. By the end of February, they withdrew from ABV/Hop and Vine.
“The third joined but soon stopped producing their top-selling 330ml six-packs, leaving us with only 440ml cans, which limited our market reach.
“It was the start of the perfect storm. While sales did grow, they weren’t enough to offset rising overheads. The liquor industry was shifting dramatically. We were impacted by a number of factors. Consumer behaviour changed — more people were abstaining or choosing 0% beer.
“Economic pressure meant fewer people dining out and drinking. These changes flowed through the entire industry, placing further strain on small restaurants, liquor stores, and distributors like us.
“We have worked tirelessly — often seven days a week, 80+ hours — exploring every possible avenue to keep going. We put our heart and soul into this business, and making the decision to close was not taken lightly. Despite our team’s best efforts and significant cost-cutting measures, the numbers simply didn’t stack up.
“We worked to recover debtor payments, maintain supply, and meet commitments, but it became clear that continuing would only deepen the financial strain and impact those who had supported us. We made the decision to enter liquidation, with both ABV and Hop and Vine ceasing trading as of 5pm Wednesday April 2nd 2025.
“We are immensely grateful for the trust and support placed in us over the years.”
Here’s the link to last week’s post if you missed it:
Beer of the Week No 1
Holy smokes people, we’ve got ourselves something quite amazing here: a fresh hop non-alcoholic beer!
When Urbanaut head brewer Dave Huff told me he was planning this beer, he was afraid it might not come to fruition given the risk involved. With no alcohol in the beer, adding fresh hops has the potential to create some bad juju in terms of infections.
There's also the fear that the fresh hops could overwhelm a beer with no alcohol in it.
After some “sleepless nights” for the brew team, it’s not only passed its health and safety check, but it tastes amazing!
Fresh Wai-Iti hops (known for their low alpha acid levels and therefore great for non-alc beers) are used in the mash tun and the fresh hop oils help create a beer with a full-on mouthfeel and long-lasting flavour.
It’s got sweet citrus, apricot, hedgerow, and some savoury notes … it’s surprisingly complex for non-alcoholic beer and definitely tasty.
I did some googling and can’t see anyone else having done a fresh hop non-alcoholic beer, so I’m calling it a world-first!
And I will add that Urbanaut on a bit of a tear with their fresh hop beers. Before I opened this can, I was primed to talk about the Nelson Sauvin-hopped double hazy IPA, which is superb. And before I had that I was all over the Riwaka fresh hopped West Coast Pilsner.
Duncan’s Taproom official opening
There’s a few notable events this weekend, including the opening of Duncan’s taproom in Paraparaumu.
With the departure of Tuatara to Brewtown in Upper Hutt, Duncan’s are now the biggest — and only — fish in the seaside town’s brewing pool.
Duncan’s had been operating as off-licence until recently but have finally secured an on-licence and the new taproom will be a great addition to the area. Congrats to the team, and I’ll be calling in for sure the next time in my old home town!
There are a few fresh hop events on this weekend as well.
Canyon Brewing have their fresh hop takeover in Queenstown and Two Thumb are holding a fresh hop festival in Christchurch.
Wellingtonians, a reminder that next Saturday you can book your spot on the Hopstock bus.
This takes in seven venues in just under seven hours, starting at 1pm at Fortune Favours.
From there, it’s:
Stop 2: Choice Bros
Stop 3: Abandoned Pito-one
Stop 4: Sprig & Fern Pito-one
Stop 5: Baylands Brewery
Stop 6: Rogue & Vagabond
Stop 7: Heyday Beer Co
Approximately 30 minutes will be spent in each venue, enough time to enjoy a tasting-sized glass of their special Hopstock beer (included in price).
There’s also finger food at three of the locations.
Hopstock 2025 Tasting Tour Tickets - Sat 19 April
And next Thursday in Auckland, I plan to be at Northern Line Bar & Social for their fresh hop takeover featuring beers from
There will be fresh hop brews from:
Black Sands
Duncan’s
Urbanaut
DNA
Double Vision
Hallertau (their “New English Bitter” is sold out in cans so this may be one of the few kegs left!)
McLeod’s
Again, I’m sure there are other events on!
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
One of my most anticipated fresh hop brews each year and consistently a podium finisher for me, Brave Brewing’s Helping Hands 2025 edition is no exception. Lush, greeny, oily passionfruit meets zesty grapefruit with a resiny prickly mouthfeel and the infamous diesel notes from the freshest Riwaka straight outta Freestyle Hops complete a beautiful brew.
Morningcider halfway to crowd-funding goal
Auckland’s Morningcider look like they need a late push to reach their crowd-funding goal.
They have currently raised $256,051 and need to get to $500,000 within six days. We know these things can finish in a mad rush, but it’s also going to be tight for them.
Among the uses of the money, one is an intriguing bid to create the world’s largest urban apple orchard.
“We have over 100 apple trees planted in backyards around Morningside, including at Eden Park. We are fundraising to plant 400 more trees to break the world record. This will continue to build on the foundations of Morningcider’s core motivation of building community. We also have budget to provide growing, pruning and harvesting support for the trees to get the best fruit and yield off the apples. If we reach our goal, we will create a special can label for the neighbourhood cider and all apple tree owners will get some.”
They also want to invest more in marketing and innovation as well as tap in to the massive export opportunity described by the recently-formed NZ Cider Apples which believes New Zealand is primed to take advantage of potential $1 billion global market based on new cider-specific apple varieties.
“We believe Morningcider is well-positioned to capitalise on this opportunity. The report notes the global cider market exceeds 2.6b litres per year and, while mainstream cider is declining, premium and craft cider segments grew by 7-12% across five key markets: Australia, China/Hong Kong, USA, UK and Nordics. We are planning to deepen the two regions we are already in — Australasia and Asia — working with distributors to grow sales and visiting in-market trade shows/festivals to engage customers and suppliers.”
Morningcider Limited | PledgeMe
Beer of the Week No 2
I couldn’t make Good George’s fresh hop festival last week, and probably just as well as I may have over-consumed their delicious NZ IPA, Fresh Hop Out Of Frankton.
Like a number of fresh hop beers this season (bar Sawmill’s Fresh Hop Riwaka) I found the aroma a little muted — so the dankadelics among you might not fall for it — but the flavour and drinkability were superb.
With fresh Nectaron and Nelson Sauvin from Mac Hops, this is exemplary. Bruised, over-ripe oranges, soft tropicals, low (but enough) bitterness and a palate-caressing creaminess combined for a very enjoyable drop.
Liberty’s “open all hours” video
I had to hand it to the crew at Liberty Brewing in Helensville for the sense of humour that came in sharing the CCTV of a break-in at their taproom recently.
“There seems to be some confusion with regards to our opening hours, with these lovely chaps unable to resist our delicious beer earlier this morning! Just to clarify, we open at 2pm - not 2am - on Sundays.”
Three teens, aged 13, 15 and 16, were taken into custody after a search warrant was issued for a property in Blockhouse Bay. But that means three more remain at large.
Beer of the Week No 3
I had Bach Brewing Juiced In Ōtāhuhu in the fridge when the legendary New World Durham Street (Christchurch) liquor manager Robert Hogg put up his take on Instagram:
“Ladies and gentlemen
Stop what you're doing
Seriously stop it and go find this beer
Bach Brewing have gone and brewed themselves a fucking exquisite hazy
Like benchmark hazy
This is all the superlatives rolled into a can of juicy, hazy delicious goodness.
I don’t even know how Friday beers will ever get this good this year given how spectacular this is
Sweet baby potatoes Chebus it’s good.”
I can’t add any more than that, except that the can carries a fantastic tribute on the back to the crew at Steam Brewing who work closely with Craig Cooper from Bach Brewing to create these stunning beers. That’s a bit of class from Craig.
Trump’s tariff treatment harsh on beer
It’s not for me to say that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are madness … but there’s something slightly weird going on when the highest office in the USA releases something called the “Aluminum Presidential Proclamation”.
In it, the White House outlines a 25% tariff on aluminum which is part of a plan to increase aluminum production within America. This tariff applies to beer in cans … I guess this is aimed at decreasing the amount of aluminum they recycle, maybe?
As Politico reported:
Donald Trump may not drink beer, but this week he messed up a lot of people’s pints.
Beer appeared quietly Wednesday on a list of aluminum-linked products now potentially subject to a 25 percent U.S. import duty. The move, buried in a bureaucratic annex and part of a broader trade war unleashed by the Trump administration, has left European brewers fizzing with confusion — and drinkers foaming with rage.
The customs code used — “beer made from malt” — appears to cover all beer, no matter how it’s packaged: cans, bottles or kegs. That’s been especially frustrating for brewers, given that most other European food and drink exports were hit with a lower 20 percent tariff — making beer one of the hardest-hit agri-food categories.
The US Commerce Department later clarified that the tariff is not intended to apply to the beer itself, just the container (how they will work that out is anyone’s guess).
“Tariffs on imported beer only apply to the value of the aluminum content of the beer can, and not to the beer itself,” a Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Politico. “Imports of the empty aluminum cans will be tariffed for their full value.”
European beer exports to the U.S. topped €1.1 billion last year, with Guinness and Heineken among the bestsellers. About a fifth of that trade, by value, is shipped in cans. The customs code applies globally — so even top exporters like Mexico, which supplies over 60 percent of U.S. beer imports, are hit.
Beer of the week No 4
Baylands in Petone are renowned fresh hopsters and their Fresh Outta Riwaka is a great reminder of that.
Going with a clear beer and one with a decent malt structure helps embed the fresh hop flavour and accentuates the juicy character allowing the bitterness to build nicely.
It’s pungent and oily, with a decent whack of grapefruit and some edgy, grassier notes that you’d expect from the fresh hops. Again, it might not hit the full-on dank note that many love but it’s undeniably a delicious beer and definitely resonates with “fresh”.
Tim’s Beer of the Week
Fresh hop season continues apace, and based on what I’ve tried so far, the quality of the beers has been a tad rockier than the incredible raft of releases we got last year. But, it’s early days yet and there’s still plenty of standouts in the mix. This week’s is Wet Bandits Cold IPA from Auckland’s Behemoth Brewing.
I find that 100% Motueka IPAs like this one often struggle to present enough lift and breadth of aroma to hold the heavier malt base aloft, but between the Cold IPA treatment and some fresh hop magic, this one has found its stride.
Freshly sliced citrus aromas mix with a densely herbaceous and floral array of cut grass, jasmine and nasturtium leaf. The smooth, laid-back malt base lets the fresh Motueka really burst on the tongue, with mint sprigs and lime candy before a mild, gradual bitterness ebbs into the finish.
A prime example of a beer that keenly displays some of the ‘impossible’ flavors and aromas that can only be captured during the fresh hop season. — Tim Newman
If you’re planning a holiday …
I found an article today on the top-10 beer destinations for 2025. No, New Zealand wasn’t on it (fools!) and the closest city in this part of the world is Brisbane.
There’s a few American cities, as well as Antwerp, Edinburgh and Cork, in Ireland but the surprise No 1 choice is Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore) in India.
India’s tech hub is a lovely city and it seems to have a thriving beer scene too:
While there’s already plenty worth checking out in Bengaluru, there’s an even more promising future on the horizon. Until recently, there were strict regulations mandating a minimum space of 10,000 square feet to establish a brewery, therefore limiting the number that were able to open. However, in September 2024, the government of Karnataka state reduced that minimum requirement to 6,500 square feet, a decision that is expected to greatly increase the number of breweries in the city. There’s surely never been a better time for Bengaluru craft beer.
The World’s Top 10 Beer Destinations for 2025 | VinePair
Beer of the Week No 5
Amidst all the fresh hop feasting, I’ve still had time for “normal” beers and one of the most memorable in recent times was Lakeman’s Flying Circus Bright IPA.
Clean, bright, punchy, resinous, gently-restrained bitterness, but with a bite all the same … it was delicious and went down a treat before the clocks changed and suddenly it became autumn. So, if it’s getting too dark, too early for you then buy this, it will definitely brighten things up!
An Ode to Speight’s
Otago University’s student newspaper, Critic, is celebrating 100 years this month — quite an achievement.
Known for its acerbic “booze reviews”, the newspaper had a special review for the 100th year. And as someone well-qualified to talk about The Gardies, The Captain Cook and The House of Pain … I think this is a rather lovely tribute to a beer that has fuelled generations of students:
Speight’s is culture. It was the first beer I ever had. Being underage, it was acquired through messaging unemployed 25-year-olds on the Dunedin Sober Driver’s Facebook page, where I and two other borderline prepubescent teens climbed into a random’s clapped-out Subaru Impreza to pay $50 for a singular 12 box of full-creams. We then split the box huddled in the hedge of a local park whilst failing to get a singular bottle-cap trivia question right. A true act of patriotism in its own fucked up binge-drinking way, an experience that no other drink can bring – except for maybe Cody’s if you’re from Waikato.
Speight’s have served as fuel for generations before us, and to that we must pay homage. Is it as good as anything Emerson’s makes? No. Does it taste like what the Gregg’s factory smells like? Absolutely. But it’s the one drink that makes you think of Otago as home. It brings you back to when you got your first flat in second-year and put on the Highlanders game in your mouldy lounge, cheering on from the shitty grandstand that your flatmates put together with leftover crates. It reminds you of that time you witnessed a friend-of-a-friend get the three stars stick-and-poked onto his leg, or when you stayed at Pint Night till close when you had a presentation the next day. Speight’s is sinking a bottle to the stars when your flatmate answers the most out-the-gate trivia question, and it's the alcohol blanket you used when you couldn’t quite understand that your heat pump doesn’t cost your whole student loan to run.
Speight’s is dirty and a bit like bottling the Leith into a beer, but it’s charismatic. It echoed the walls of the Gardies (ask your parents), the House of Pain (ask your parents) and the Captain Cook (ask your parents); it painted the porcelain throne of your neighbour’s flat after getting stitched-up in rage cage. It’s genuine and it’s Otago. For Critic’s 80th anniversary the oldest living editor at the time said, “I hope and pray that when you and your gang will get together to celebrate the first century Speight’s will still be the best drink.” So for Critic’s 100th, put down the foreign lemon-flavoured RTD, reject the modernity of the mint solo and embrace tradition. Have a bottle of Speights and smoke a lung-dart – it’s what our forefathers would have wanted.
Beer of the Week No 6
I had this way back in the St Patrick’s Day window and adored it. Can’t work out why I hadn’t put in the system before now … probably all those fresh hop beers distracted me.
I can see why Emerson’s released it for St Patrick’s Day — it’s based on the foreign export version of Guinness — but it’s going to be a superb beer in a few weeks when the weather turns colder.
There are not many stouts in that “foreign export” territory — North End’s The Lash is an excellent example — so this is a welcome edition for those who love densely flavoured beer with elements of coffee, chocolate, leather and earthy-roasty bitterness. Super-moreish.
And just a quick reminder that because it’s Easter next week, Friday Night Beers will be taking a well-earned rest and catching up on fresh hop beers.
I may even continue my sojourn into Anzac Day, also a Friday … I haven’t quite decided on that one yet. So until then, or possibly May, enjoy your beers and drive safely if you’re going on holiday.
Michael
https://bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/products/free-time-alc-free-fresh-hop-hazy. Another fresh hop non-alcoholic. Delicious too
I'd be interested in knowing more about ABV and the three breweries/brands that were going to come on board, and the reasons why this didn't happen. Seems like Terry was promised something, it didn't happen, but he was the one that had to bare the brunt of it. That is how it looks with the limited information shared so far.