Much loved home brew shop shuts after nearly 40 years
Alvarado Street and Garage Project called out for their bare cheek! Why rice is now nice when it comes to beer. Celebrating new incarnations of two great beers. Bud Light falls further from peak.
Howdy beer friends, and welcome Friday Night Beers.
Tonight, the winner of the Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge will be announced in Wellington so good luck to all the breweries in the running for this most esteemed award. We’ll have more on that event next week.
We start with another round of sad news — the closure and liquidation of one of the most formative and influential beer establishments in Auckland, if not the country.
Brewers Coop — an iconic homebrew shop that traded for nearly 40 years after opening in 1986 — announced this week it was closing would be placed in liquidation.
“It's been a hard few weeks, but the shareholders have made the decision to close Brewers Coop and on Monday placed the business into liquidation,” the business posted this week.
“It's very sad to see the end of a brand that has been around for nearly 40 years and we will miss all the amazing brewers we have met during this time.
“Thank you for all your wonderful support and custom over the years... We will miss you all.”
Now you might not think a homebrew shop in suburban Auckland could be regarded as influential, but for many years it was home base for a raft of aspiring brewers. I am certain there are many professional brewers who started by buying kit and ingredients from Brewers Coop.
It was hugely influential in my own beer journey.
Before I started writing about beer I was a homebrewer, and the visits to Brewers Coop drove my curiosity. I learned so much from just walking around wondering: “What’s this for?” “Do I need that?” “How does this work?”
Original owner Mike Ellwood and current owner Bryan Livingston were always helpful and generous with advice.
If there’s one thing that led to the demise of Brewers Coop, and this is just my opinion from quite some distance, it’s that they never really nailed the online side of the business in terms of presentation and user experience. There’s a lot of competition in that space and there’s others that do it particularly well in terms of online display and content.
It’s sad to see them go.
Nelson Sun Flub
I had a decent laugh at a story in the Nelson Mail today, in which Nelson nudists took exception to a recent beer release from Garage Project and Alvarado Street called Nelson Sun Club.
Brewed as part of the Hāpi Sessions series, the beer was an absolute banger — the Nelson Sauvin fresh-hopped West Coast IPA is one of the best beers of the year in my view.
But it turns out members of Nelson Naturist Park, formerly known as the Nelson Sun Club, were not totally fine about their name and some imagery being used on a beer and gave Alvarado Street a dressing down on their Facebook page.
Mostly they were upset (in an easy-going way, to be fair) that the Alvarado Street version of the release used an image that belonged to the Nelson Sun Club. The Garage Project version had the more traditional labelling associated with Hāpi Sessions beer.
Alvarado Street apologised to the Nelson naturists.
“I would like to start off by saying that we are very sorry for not contacting you about using the Nelson Sun Club name for a beer,” wrote Alvarado Street Brewery director of marketing Brock Bill.
Brewers from Alvarado Street were in Nelson in March to select hops from Freestyle Hops, a farm based in the Sunrise Valley, also home to the Nelson Sun Club.
“[We] fell in love with the idea of your establishment and were very much inspired by the name, the artwork, and idea of the Nelson Sun Club itself.
“The name felt almost perfect for a beer as it gives a fun-loving naturist attitude and sense of place, but by no means should that be an excuse.”
The brewery said it meant no harm when making the beer, but saw that it was in the wrong, and would not be producing the label again.
Beer of the Week No 1
In this last missive of Dry July, we’re going out with a bang, or rather an explosion of colour!
Waitoa Jellydrop is New Zealand’s first non-alcoholic sour beer and Waitoa, based in the Wellington suburb of Hataitai, deserve a round of applause for creating a non-alc with a real point of difference.
This is based on the raspberry and pineapple Calippo ice block and they’ve nailed the brief.
The first thing you notice is the colour, bright red.
The aroma is startling — distinct raspberry and more subtle but sweet pineapple jump out of the glass and dive into your nose. It smells like a child’s birthday party!
On the palate, the sweetness is swept away by the bright acidity and it finishes super dry, offering a real contrast to the sweet aroma. It won’t be for everyone, but for fans of fruited sours or anyone looking for a completely different non-alc experience, this is a must-try.
As always, the best range of non-alcoholic beers and craft beers in general can be found at New World, your home of craft beer.
Also, in terms of beer of the week. This week you’re only getting one from me. I’ve had such bad head cold for the past week or so that I can’t smell or taste anything properly. But the two beers I was going to review were Sawmill’s 12 Gauge (re-released) and 8 Wired’s Southland-hopped version of Hopwired. Luckily, my colleagues Tim Newman and Dusty have you covered on that front.
Sobering move in Munich
Munich, home of Germany’s world-renowned Oktoberfest beer festival, today opened its first alcohol-free beer garden in a nod to changing consumption habits among the party set and growing frustration with public binge drinking.
Die Null (The Zero) near the Bavarian capital’s main railway station will serve its patrons exclusively soft drinks, mocktails, juices, water and non-alcoholic beers in an attempt to strip the area of its boozy, seedy image.
Operators of nearby restaurants, hotels and cultural venues, who will be running the beer garden jointly, have long complained about tourists pouring out of trains drinking to excess alongside locals in keeping with Munich’s global image as a beer haven.
Guests at the open-air establishment will be allowed to bring their own food, and there will be free live entertainment provided by bands, choirs and solo artists as well as DJ dance nights and youth parties.
Just more evidence of the ongoing non-alc wave showing no signs of breaking. In fact, it’s still building.
Tim’s Beer of the Week
8 Wired Hopwired has a special place for me, both in my heart and in my fridge. Tracing back those 15 years since its inception in 2009, this most fundamental of New Zealand IPAs is amongst the formative beers that set me on the trajectory that would eventually see me writing about it here. This anniversary edition, Southland Hopwired (7.3%), is also special in that it’s another driven by Garston Hops, who continue to demonstrate the incredible effect of hop terroir with their Southland-grown hops turning the sensory codex of NZ varieties on its head.
Sharp and supremely concentrated aromas of lemon and orange burst on the nose, with more bittersweet grapefruit juice and pine flowing over the palate. The malt backbone is significant but rigidly structured and tightly locked down by the supreme bitterness that builds into the finish. One of the biggest NZIPAs, and yet one of the most composed. The fact Hopwired is still here and going strong, and I’m still as enthusiastic about it as I was back then, is an absolute testament to a classic beer; and they don’t come more classic than this.
Bud Light falls to No 3
It’s been a while since we checked in on Bid Light, a year or more on from Dylan Mulvaney controversy. And yeah, the prognosis is still bad.
Bud Light, once America’s No 1 beer, is now the No 3 brand in the country — a stunning fall from grace for the Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned lager following the boycott over its Dylan Mulvaney ad partnership.
Modelo Especial, the Mexican import sold by Constellation Brands, is now No. 1, accounting for 9.7% of beer dollar sales in US stores in the four weeks that ended July 6, according to NielsenIQ data that was analysed by the Bump Williams consulting firm.
Michelob Ultra, the low-carb beer that is also owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, came in at second place with 7.3% of beer dollar sales nationwide, the data showed.
Bud Light represented 6.5% of beer dollar sales during the four-week period.
The latest figures were reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Eighteen months ago, Bud Light collared more than 10% of total beer sales in America.
And then Bud Light hired Mulvaney, the transgender social media influencer with millions of followers across TikTok and Instagram, to tout the brand as part of a special March Madness promotion.
The backlash from conservatives resulted in a boycott of Bud Light, which tanked sales.
Bud Light’s appalling response to the boycott didn’t help things either.
It now seems like Bud Light is going hard in the opposite direction with outlandishly obvious attempts to reclaim a masculinity stamp of approval:
Former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform earlier this year and defended Bud Light’s parent company, saying it wasn’t a “woke” business.
Bud Light also entered into a marketing and sponsorship agreement with Ultimate Fighting Championship.
That said, I don’t think AB InBev — ultimate owner of Bud Light — is going too worried given recent data shows that not only are they biggest beer company in the world but they are bigger than their three nearest rivals (Heineken, Snow and Carlsberg) combined!
The 40 Biggest Beer Companies in the World in 2024 | VinePair
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
Welcome back 12 Gauge! The legendary 6.5% IPL from Sawmill, first created over two decades ago, has risen again in another fleeting iteration. I'm pumped as it's been a transient duration between pints of this beastly brew! Just as I recall, it punches and slaps from the get, with zesty citrus and floral going at it with chewy biscuity malts. I luv this beer — it’s cleverly layered yet unapologetically brash. Also a great trip down memory lane for the contentious IPL style.
Rice is nice
I love a good Japanese Lager, not ashamed to say. Smashing a cold Asahi or Sapporo on a summer’s day is a real pleasure.
There’s been a fair number of New Zealand breweries making Japanese-style lagers for a while, with the defining feature being the addition of rice as an adjunct to create that super-dry profile.
But once upon a time, rice in beer was considered the devil’s work by holier-than-thou craft breweries in America because rice was synonymous with the corporate giants of the brewing world. I guess the equivalent practice that was railed against in New Zealand would be adding caramel colouring and sugar!
Anyway, the story linked below, Courtney Iseman does a great job exploring how rice is now “allowed” in craft beer.
Twelve years ago, Stone Brewing co-founder Greg Koch produced a relentless four-minute compilation of different brewers espousing the tenets of craft beer, called “I Am a Craft Brewer.” It is the kind of cheesy, dated video that was at the time a rallying cry for an exciting industry sticking it to Big Beer. Alongside ideals like “integrity,” “tradition” and “style,” the brewers specify they are superior to macro beer because of an omission: “I don’t use rice in my beer.”
Throughout craft beer’s earlier decades, rice was an adjunct associated almost exclusively with Budweiser and Coors, a low-cost shortcut to producing as light a beer as possible—rice yields fermentable sugars for yeast to entirely convert without residual sugars hanging around, creating a crisp, dry beer. But a lot has changed in 12 years. Rice is no longer synonymous with subpar brewing or watered-down flavor, just as craft beer is no longer the David to Big Beer’s Goliath.
Why Craft Beer Breweries Have Embraced the Rice Lager | PUNCH (punchdrink.com)
Mountain scene
I mentioned the other week that Three Sisters are about to go crowdfunding again. With that in mind, here’s the first video teaser from founder Joe Emans:
Staying in New Plymouth, Mike’s Bistro — home of Mike’s beer — is on the move.
Their website has the following note on the home page:
“Thanks for all the support that we’ve had from the community over the past 5 1/2 years, it’s been one heck of a ride. Watch this space to see where we’re going to pop up. We’re really sorry for the inconvenience, but hope to be able to make it up to you soon.”
We watch with interest.
And finally, again, from shadow of the mountain, the Taranaki Daily News had a nice story on Shining Peak’s new head brewer Emma Elmslie and the first beer she’s created in her new gig, Ferdie, which as all Taranaki rugby fans will know is a tribute to the province’s rugby mascot Ferdinand the bull.
You can bank on Emma’s Ferdie brew | Stuff
Beer is back — an update
For a while now I’ve been reading news stories based on some kind of crystal ball-gazing, also known as economic forecasting, that beer is slowly clawing back its rightful place at the head of the world’s cold beverage table. (We concede the overall podium to tea and coffee …)
Anyway, it does seem like there’s a legitimate track towards recovery following the post-Covid let down:
Americans name beer as the alcoholic drink of the summer (thedrinksbusiness.com)
Brewing at the technological edge
This is a little offbeat, but also a sign of the times and a reminder that beer and brewing are often entwined with technological advances.
For example, I’ve reported multiple times on breweries being the test cases for the conversion of wastewater into drinking water, by brewing beers made from recycled wastewater. It’s a great hook for the creators of these technologies as they know beer gets peoples’ attention.
And so it is that Firestone Walker in California are the recipients of a $7 million grant from the US Department of Energy to trial solar thermal energy to produce the steam needed for their beer production.
The technology uses large arrays of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, where it’s used to heat molten salt, ceramic particles, or other materials that can store that energy for extended periods. The thermal energy can also be stored more efficiently than electricity, potentially offering an alternative to expensive large-scale battery plants.
Selling a new energy system off the back of tasty Firestone Walker IPA is great marketing!
Non-alcoholic beer only for Paris Olympic fans
Finally, the Olympics start properly tomorrow morning (NZ time) and one of the stories from the media contingent who have descended on Paris is the fact fans cannot buy alcoholic beer inside the stadiums.
This is no bad thing, I guess, and it stems from a French law that has been in place since 1991 and is known as “Evin's Law”.
It banned adverts for alcohol on TV or in cinemas, and the sale of alcohol to the general public in sports venues.
In fact, the law also bans sporting competitions from having alcohol brands in their names, so the Heineken Cup was known as the H Cup in France, while the Guinness Six Nations is just called the Six Nations.
Each year, there are some events which can apply for exemptions and be granted them, but the Olympic organisers did not seek this status for the games.
The size and scope of the Olympics would have been so large, with over 700 separate events going on over 15 days, that trying to get a blanket exemption would have required a law change, Reuters reported.
Fans in VIP boxes who are “dining” are allowed alcohol, but those in the public areas are given a beer choice of alcohol-free Kronenbourg 1664 ($NZ15 for 500ml) or something called Tourtel Twist, from Carlsberg, an alcohol-free “aromatised” beer with a twist of lemon.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the Olympics if you are watching — I will be.
