Moa launch new brand … and I’m confused

Beer writer Neil Miller dies, Craftwork open new pub in Oamaru, cool events up-coming, a quiz to test you beer-personality, recommendations for the weekend, plus beer made from sewage!

Happy long weekend beer lovers,

I’m going to start with a bit of a rant this week, which is a sad one for the beer community with the death of beer writer Neil Miller.

There’s plenty of other news and views in this email, so remember if you’re not a paid subscriber there’s heaps you’re missing out on!

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But let us begin …

I’m usually positive about the beer industry but straight-up I think the latest move from Moa is really weird.

I’d forgiven them for their many past sins and was happy to let new boss Stephen Smith show what he could do with the previously toxic brand, which he bought for a bargain basement price of $1.9m last year.

Smith has already created an RTD brand Hey Hey and now he’s added a Moa sub-brand (side-brand? I’m not even sure how to describe it). It’s called Southern Alps Brewing Co which is super-confusing given that Moa has an award-winning beer called Southern Alps in its stable — an iconic White IPA which took out the title of New Zealand’s Champion Beer at the Brewers Guild Awards in 2018. Maybe that beer is destined for the bin?

The Southern Alps Brewing Co is a different thing: it’s two “Alpine” lagers, one a standard 4% and the other a low carb variant.

Smith said there is an opportunity for a locally owned and brewed, quality lager brand to shake things up in the category, with a lot of Kiwis continuing to support internationally-owned and shipped brands at a time when supporting local has never been more important.

He’s right there: no argument. It’s way better to support local, but I can think of dozens of “quality” lagers made here in New Zealand by independent breweries and I find this positioning to be disrespectful to those breweries. I guess what’s missing is the word “cheaper” because a case of Alpine Lager is $65 compared with, for example, a case of Sawmill Home Grown Lager (also 4% ABV) at $80.

And fair enough, price is critical for lots of people but so is clarity and humility. The creation of a brand with the words “Brewing Co” implies an actual brewing company but there isn’t one. In that sense, it reminds me of Lion’s ill-fated sub-brand Crafty Beggars, which made a name dissing the craft market, and has similarities to Boundary Road, the brand created by Independent (now Asahi).

Anyway, the beer is launching in the South Island initially — whether it makes it off the Mainland remains to be seen.

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Neil Miller (April 18, 1973-June 1 2022)

Neil Miller was one of this country’s most influential beer writers. Prolific, funny and with a knack for dishing out nicknames that stuck, he sadly passed away on June 1 at Wellington Hospital after a short illness.

Neil was well-known through his prolific work on The Malthouse blog — he penned over 500 of these missives and they were all entertaining, funny and informative (and it’s a real shame that when you google them they all seem to have disappeared).

He was a regular panelist on Radio NZ’s Afternoon show, and Newstalk ZB’s The Huddle, he wrote for Beer & Brewer, The Shout, Cuisine, Witchdoctor and this magazine. I’ve never seen him more delighted than when he won the Beer Writer of The Year trophy at the Brewers Guild Awards in 2014. Well, except for the time he caught the attention of Australian cricket star David Warner with his “David Warner Likes Nickelback” sign that he took to a cricket match in 2016. That sparked a Twitter conversation that turned into a news story on Stuff.

He loved cricket and Star Wars almost as much as he loved wrestling and all were surpassed by his deep devotion to his country of birth, Scotland.

He nicknamed Richard Emerson “the Chuck Norris” of New Zealand brewing, gave Luke Nicholas of Epic the moniker of Imp, which in turn became a beer name. Stu McKinlay of Yeastie Boys says their flagship Pot Kettle Black was created in part as a way to unite his love of malty beers with Neil’s love of all things hoppy.

In fact, Neil so loved big hoppy beers that in 2015, Liberty Brewing’s launched Miller's Humulus in his honour.

He will be hugely missed in beer and political circles alike. And our condolences go to his family and friends, and in particular to his fiancee Tamsyn.

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Beer of the week No 1

I’m about to write a piece on the (hopefully) boom times in the West Coast brewing scene. In the past couple of years we’ve had two new breweries open — Shortjaw in Westport and Hopaholics in Greymouth. Admittedly in that time, two have closed, including the short-lived Sunset Brewing in Hokitika, while Monteith’s stopped brewing on the coast. Anyway, as part of the research I needed to drink the beer.

Shortjaw’s Kiwi Dark picked up a bronze medal at the Australian International Beer Awards the other week and could have done better had it been entered in the right category says brewery owner Luke Roberston. At just 4 per cent ABV it’s robust, chocolately and thoroughly drinkable. My first one was gone in a jiffy, it just went down so easily. I mean this in a totally complimentary way, but it’s like Speight’s Old Dark but tastier. And I do like a Speight’s Old Dark.

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What beer are you?

A bit of light-hearted fun for you: as part of the New World Beer & Cider Awards, Stuff are running a “quiz” that matches you to your beer personality. It’s not meant to be taken seriously, of course, but I was pleased it told me I was an IPA-type of person. Because I am.

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Rare beers to savour for a good cause

If you’re in Wellington this long weekend you absolutely must make it to Fortune Favours for the Rare Beer Challenge. There are some incredibly imaginative brews for sale in this fund-raiser for Rare Disorders NZ.

The team at Fortune Favours have created something extraordinary for the event, New Zealand’s strongest beer — the 31 per cent Hyper Fuel! They even made a great wee video about it, which you can watch on Facebook here.

And you can read more about the event, and some of the crazy beers, here.

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