New marine species named after brewpub
Beer and crustaceans. Beer and longevity. Beer and gravy. Beer and politics.
Welcome to Friday Night Beers!
When this first story landed in my WhatsApp, I had a moment of uncertainty … it’s so weird it felt like an April Fool’s joke.
But no, it’s all true: scientists have named a newly discovered crustacean after the Fork & Brewer brewpub in Wellington.
And not only that, Beervana manager Ryan McArthur was given the honour of naming a ghost shrimp after the annual Wellington festival!
A tiny snowflake-like crustacean roughly 1.5mm long — technically an isopod — is now known by the scientific name Pentaceration forkandbrewer.
The name is an attempt to boost public interest in local marine life and Fork & Brewer earned the honour by winning a beer competition tied to the 10th International Crustacean Congress, held in Wellington last year.
“It is believed to be the first time a scientific name has been inspired by a brewery,” the Guardian solemnly reported.
The competition was the brainchild of Rachael Peart and Kareen Schnabel, marine biologists at NIWA. They contacted McArthur to run the event.
“The initial pitch email wasn’t so attention-grabbing: ‘Beer Competition… Wellington breweries etc’ - we have plenty of those. Sure, a Crustacean Congress sounded fun. Who wouldn’t want to party with crustaceans? But it was the prize that grabbed my attention. A prize that no other beer competition in the world could offer. To be immortalised with a species of crustacean named after your brewery! Hell yeah! This was the kind of beer story that only Wellington could tell. So, I jumped on board,” McArthur said.
Seven breweries entered the competition.
Brayden Rawlinson of Fork & Brewer created a beer inspired by the low country boil-up from the south-eastern United States — a stout made with potatoes and flaked corn.
“At the end of the boil, a small number of prawns were added to infuse a subtle briny foundation to the beer, reminiscent of an Oyster Stout. We also infused it with Creole seasoning steeped in Bourbon Whiskey. This gave it a super savoury, complex, aroma and flavour, with top notes of fusel (warm) alcohol, which gave the impression of it being a higher alcohol beer,” said Rawlinson.
The winning beer was decided by popular vote from Crustacean Congress delegates from around the world as well as members of the public during the 2023 Visa Wellington on a Plate event.
As a bonus reward, Beervana was used as a name for a species of ghost shrimp, which at that point was officially unnamed. It’s now Vulcanocalliax beervana.
Beer of the Week No 1
It’s not often that I go for a non-alcoholic drop at the top of this dispatch — but for the second time in three weeks I’m seriously impressed.
Making a great lager is hard, we know that, because there’s nowhere to hide. Making a great non-alcoholic lager? There would be a tendency to leave it to the big multinationals … but thankfully State of Play decided to go there with their new Golden Lager.
Nutty, biscuity malt meets long and lingering bitterness through the use of Amplifire Riwaka hop oil. In fact, it’s quite a hoppy lager, and I think using the hop oil helps keep the bitterness long but gentle.
The flavour is matched by the body and mouthfeel, again the hop oils may be helping here. Plus, it has lovely head retention for a non-alc.
All in all, a triumph.
Homebrew boom in Australia
Australia is going through a homebrewing boom — with the sale of home brew kits up 8% in the past year — and the main beneficiary is longstanding craft brewer, Cooper’s.
For anyone who’s homebrewed the reason is obvious, with Cooper’s having something of a lock on the homebrew market across the Tasman … and a strong presence here too.
The Australian Financial Review reports that Cooper’s benefitted from a rise in homebrew kit sales and the success of new lager products which together pushed them to a 15.6% increase in profit, totalling $22.9 million, for the 12 months to the end of June 30.
Coopers — popular for its pale ale and sparking ale and still largely owned by the Cooper family — controls about 5% of the Aussie beer market.
In contrast, it has about 90% of the homebrew market in Australia. Managing director Tim Cooper said homebrewing technology had improved since the last spike in sales during the global financial crisis in 2008.
He said the reasons for the rise in homebrew kit sales were higher mortgage payments, rents and grocery prices that were accelerating a decline in overall spending on beer so people were taking a DIY approach.
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
That's crispy! New tin drop from Emerson’s — Loud & Clear is an 8.4% Bright IPA hopped with Riwaka, Simcoe, Talus & Galaxy, the result being notes of grapefruit, apricot, passionfruit, peach & florals. A pithy bitterness, oily mouthfeel, tingly carb and soft caramel undertones complete a crackin’ DIPA! — Dusty
Wanaka Beer Fest reminder
One of the more popular events on the beer calendar is just a few weeks away, with Wanaka Beerfest scheduled for Saturday, December 7.
There’s a great line-up of breweries, with all the local heroes in attendance as well Emerson’s, Brew Moon from Amberley, Two Thumb from Christchurch, House of Hop from Geraldine — with Hey Day and Brave repping the North Island.
There’s music, comedy, laser clay pigeon shooting and heaps of great food.
An Aussie take on Kiwi hops
New Zealand hops have an amazing amount of respect around the world, but sometimes it’s hard to understand just how highly regarded they are.
I’ve spoken to plenty of American and British brewers in recent years about their overwhelming love of New Zealand hops, and this week the Crafty Pint in Australia presented the view from across the Tasman:
“The profile of NZ hops in Australia – and, more broadly, globally – has definitely exploded over the last three years,” says Sam Bethune, technical sales specialist at Bintani, who took over Australian distribution of the NZ Hops Ltd cooperative in 2021 after acquiring Hopco. “We can’t share specific numbers but they have outperformed versus our market benchmarks.
“Previously, it was often hard to get your hands on in-demand hops like Nelson Sauvin and Riwaka – especially without a forward contract – and pricing could be cost prohibitive at times compared to Australian and US varieties. The scene has changed remarkably now though.”
Choice Az! The Rise Of Kiwi Hops - The Crafty Pint
Brew of the Week No 2
Cider seems to be on the up and up at the moment. And cider is also being used as flavour delivery vehicle for what you might call RTD-adjacent beverages. We worship in a broad church here, so why not give it a go.
When I opened the Summer Harvest cider mixed six-pack from Urbanaut, brewed under the Kihi sub-brand, I didn’t know where to start. If I’m honest, none of the flavours spoke to me — but I’m an old Gen X beer writer and these are definitely brewed for the younger generations.
The names say it all: Strawberry Sundae, Raspberry Lemonade, Peach Train, Tropical Fizz, Pink Cider (blueberry) … plus a traditional apple cider.
So I picked the one I thought would be my usual last choice — Strawberry Sundae. And without going all soft and gooey on you, I surprised myself by finishing the glass! It was good. Subtle strawberry, a hint of vanilla & both tied up in what turned out to be an elegant, dry, well-balanced drop. I was expecting something outrageous and instead got something quite refined and tasty.
I handed the rest of the flavours over a cider-loving Millennial and the incoming reports are all excellent.
These are available at select New World stores — your home of craft beer and cider — and once the weather picks up again, I think these will work a treat as summer apertifs.
An ode to Timothy Taylor Landlord
Speaking of Urbanaut, their brewery manager Dave Huff made a surprise cameo in a delightful story from the UK’s Pellicle magazine this week.
It’s such a good read, it made me go online right away to order some Timmy Taylor!
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord — A Polyptych of a Pint — Pellicle
Beer for longevity: yes or no?
In the never-ending debate about whether beer is good for you or not I present two arguments that drifted across my desk this week:
The scientist who says we need to stop drinking alcohol at the age of 65 to preserve our brains; and
The 110-year Australian woman who swears by a daily glass of Emu Export (aka Bush Chook).
You choose!
Tim’s Beer of the Week
After being impressed by Garstenstein’s first outing as a fresh-hopped beer earlier this year, I’ve been wanting to catch up with the conventionally hopped version. I say “conventionally” but as a beer fueled by some of the first processed crops of Southland-grown hops (by way of Garston Hops), it’s far from a typical NZIPA.
The gentle aroma replicates the sweet lime and unique apple and pear character from the fresh hopped version, while delicate herbal/floral notes add to the complexity. It still leans old-school on the palate, with a sturdy malt backbone supporting the taut, clean hop character. As much as I enjoyed the furious bitterness of the fresh edition, that’s been tuned down to something more in line with the mainstream, providing a finish that while still firm, is also far more balanced. Garston's cool climate hops continue to impress, as does Beers’ application of them. — Tim Newman
Beer sells … gravy
In the wake of last week’s story about the new can production business Recorp Ltd, and their aim to get more plastic users to move into aluminum cans, this story feels apposite: a British gravy maker has seen a surge in sales after they put their product into “beer cans”.
Ian Butt, a founder of Potts’ gravy, told the BBC growth had improved significantly since introducing the novel packaging — a phenomenon now being referred to as “chaos packaging”.
“We always wanted to increase our recyclability and traditionally, products like ours are sold in plastic pouches or glass jars,” he said.
Butt said Potts' was also inspired by the creativity in the craft beer market.
“There was a huge rise of interesting craft beer cans. That product was always stored in brown bottles with labels,” he said.
“We thought, because we make liquid products, there must be a way to make this packaging method work.”
The idea did not come without obstacles, though.
Butt said they quickly discovered issues with packaging thicker, liquid food products in cans.
“We had to develop a bespoke method to dispense our stocks and sauces into cans,” he said. “The process is a world-first, as far as we are aware.”
Not for long, I reckon.
Beer of the Week No 3
Sometimes it’s hard to say much more about a beer than: “I’ll have that again, please”.
That was my immediate reaction after I scoffed a tin of Rhyme X Reason’s Italian Stallion Euro Lager.
So simple yet so damn tasty, it is both easy-drinking and substantial in terms of well-executed malt and exact bitterness. I loved it. Fresh and clean, pretty and lively it’s got summer stamped all over it.
And while I’m here, I thoroughly recommend Rhyme X Reason’s Brain Fade Cold IPA. One of the better Cold IPAs I’ve had in recent times, for sure.
Beer and politics the Euro version
I guess a Euro Lager is as good a segue as any into the next story, a beer with a political message: The Future is Europe.
Brewed by the Brussels Beer Project, it’s a collaboration featuring 12 breweries from 11 European countries, including Latvia, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Portugal.
The messaging is set against the backdrop of this year’s European parliament elections where anti-EU and right-wing parties made large gains.
“I think there’s a huge deficit in the feeling of belonging to the European project, which became even more prevalent during the last [European] elections [in June],” said Sébastien Morvan, co-founder of the Brussels Beer Project, the company that initiated the project.
With symbolic Ukraine hops in the hazy IPA, the beer is named for a famous mural in the heart of Brussels’ European quarter and is also a celebration of European multiculturalism in Brussels, Morvan told Politico.
“Often in Europe, we’re lacking a little sense of pride and ambition,” Morvan said. This beer aims to show that Europe can be “collaborative, innovative and fresh,” while promoting European entrepreneurship, he added.
It’s also about regaining a sense of pride for the European flag, the Brussels brewer said, explaining that the project tried to “associate a popular product” — beer — “with a project that is often seen as elitist” — Europe — “so that when you think about Brussels and the European flag, you don’t only think about regulation.”
Beer and politics the US version
We’ll finish with more politics. This time with the Brewers Association in the United States trying to front-foot Donald Trump’s promise of more trade tariffs that will impact the US beer industry, according to Forbes.
One factor in particular is causing nervousness among brewers across the United States: Trump's embrace of tariffs on imported goods. In his first term as president, Trump was a vocal critic of international trade deals. He pulled the U.S. out of several and imposed blanket tariffs on numerous items. When he imposed a 10% tariff on aluminum imports in 2018, the craft beer industry decried its effects on their industry, saying it led to price increases for consumers and a loss of 40,000 jobs, according to a 2018 biennial study from the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association.
This issue was highlighted in a post-election day release from the BA to its members. It pointed out several potential problems for small and independent breweries. It warned breweries that Trump has been highly vocal about his support for increasing tariffs and possibly instituting new ones. This could have a severe impact on aluminum can pricing and brewing equipment, both of which rely heavily on imports from China, a country Trump has suggested in speeches he might hit with new tariffs as high as 60%.
What Trump's Election Means For An Uncertain Craft Beer Industry
Thanks for tuning in again, and catch you next week.
Michael