Ridiculous fuss over the price of beer
Why a $16 pint shouldn't have made the news. Cidermaker looking for "incider" traders. Warren Buffet's billion-dollar bet on beer. The secret to Guinness' success in America. The best beer spas.
Happy Friday beer friends!
Look, I didn’t want to go here but I’ve heard so much chit-chat about it, I felt I had to: the $16 pint in Christchurch. What’s the big deal?
The short answer: nothing to see here.
The medium answer: nothing to see here, because it’s a 575ml pint.
The long answer: I can’t believe The Press did this story. If anything it’s good advertising for The Church, a relatively new and upmarket establishment in Christchurch.
The story even made its way all the way to Auckland, with Mike Hosking deeming it worthy of a minute’s chatting.
Let’s see: $16 for what owner Nick Inkster says is 575ml of beer equals 27c per ml. Translate that to a standard 425ml offering in most bars and it makes the price around $11.50.
If I saw a decent beer for $11.50 I’d be rapt. I reckon you’d struggle to get a multinational lager for that price in downtown Auckland.
I looked at The Church, and they serve mostly Emerson’s and other Lion products. If you were paying $16 for a pint of Emerson’s Bird Dog or Hazed & Confused … bargain!
I checked out another Christchurch “pint”-selling bar, Sprig + Fern Merivale, where prices range from $12 to $15 — depending on ABV — for the old imperial pint.
Far from this being an inability to do maths, I think it has to do with the idea of ordering “a” beer.
You order “a” beer and you know you’re getting one thing: if that one thing costs $12 in one place and $16 in another, it feels like the pricier one is out of step.
Perhaps should start advertising beer in price per millilitre, like it was saffron or truffles!
But I digress. I got approached for comment from Newstalk ZB on this one and declined, as I didn’t think I had anything valuable to say and can’t stand the way radio stations cut your quotes to little snippets devoid of context.
But I did send the reporter this story (below). While it’s from the pre-Covid era, much of it holds true today. As I always say, it’s not a question of whether craft beer is expensive on-premise, it’s why people pay so much for the likes of Heineken.
Beer drinkers are living in a golden age of affordability | Stuff
As always I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Marchfest update
Just a quick update to last week’s story on Marchfest and their partnership with The Platform.
Last Friday I was uncertain about the status of the media partnership as The Platform’s logo had disappeared from the Marchfest website. And briefly there appeared to be no Marchfest advertising on The Platform.
But to clarify, Marchfest is advertising on The Platform’s website.
Beer of the Week No 1
If I’m being honest, I got to inhale the aroma, and take one sip of Parrotdog’s new limited release, Coconut Hazy IPA, before my wife grabbed it, saying: “I think I’ll like this…”
And she didn’t give it back. Occasionally she’d blurt out something like: “This is really, really good.” Or “This is amazing”.
My brief flirt revealed a huge coconut aroma on the nose, with the flavour following through in strength but not so much that it overpowered the hop-driven flavours — also aided by the coconutty contribution from Sabro hops.
The beer thief’s assessment was that the coconut aroma implied a beckoning sweetness but that the beer never swerved into that domain, remaining even-handed on the sweet-bitter balance.
She highly recommends it :)
Morningcider looking to crowd-fund growth
Morningcider, the Morningside-based cidermakers, are looking for expressions of interest for a crowd-funding campaign.
Given their name, you know they’re good on creative puns, so it was no surprise to see them talking up “in-cider” trading for this one.
In a recent story I did with Peckham’s Cider about their success last year, cidermaker Jody Scott talked about a roadmap created by the newly-formed body Cider Apples NZ touting the future potential growth in the industry here.
And that’s exactly what Morningcider hope to tap into.
And just today, I read a story from America about the growth in “hard cider” (as they call it). Admittedly, I think cider is really small in the US but it does seem to be on a growth curve and outperformed a number of other drinks categories last year.
Help us take on the world! – Morningcider
Tim’s Beer of the Week
Where to even begin with this one… Garage Project’s Bastard Rye (named so for the grain’s notorious obstinance to being a brewing ingredient), is a remarkable beer in almost every single one of its facets. It’s 14.7% ABV to start with (stronger than most wines) and it’s been ageing in ex-bourbon barrels for EIGHT YEARS! Scotch whisky (legally) has to be aged for only three…
Speaking of whisky, it’s lucky that I also nose plenty of those, because the aroma here is vastly more akin to that than any beer. Old bush honey and beeswax, polished leather, walnut, tobacco, toasted coconut and Macintoshes toffees… The oozingly viscous and gradual palate lingers on the richer flavours before the more esoteric notes re-emerge in the incredibly long, distinctly warming and just mildly bitter finish. This is a beer that’s equally unmissable and unrepeatable. — Tim Newman
Don’t like it? Don’t buy it
I enjoyed this story from English bloggers Boak & Bailey on why they don’t buy certain beers anymore.
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
One of a flurry of new suddys from Waiheke Island dwellers Alibi Brewing Co, Little Blue, named after the local penguin (Kororà), is an exquisite unfiltered pale ale. A nimble 5.6% and hopped with timeless pairing of Simcoe & Citra, this brewty delivers notes of fleshy peach, overripe apricot with lemony passionfruit undertones. A greeny bitterness and laid-back carb complete a best-of-both-coasts style hit out. — Dusty
Buffet’s billion-dollar backing of beer
Investment guru Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has invested $US1.24 billion in Constellation Brands, the company behind popular beer labels Corona, Modelo, and Pacifico.
Previously we’ve seen Microsoft’s Bill Gates take a similar-sized stake in Heineken.
The Fortune article, linked below, noted that the investment “… seems to signal Buffett’s confidence in the alcoholic beverage market’s long-term prospects.”
However, he’s also likely jumping on under-valued stock after Constellation' Brands’ share price fell by 26% after US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Mexican products. That tariff was almost immediately halted in exchange for some political chess moves by the Mexican government.
Which leads us to …
Beer of the Week No 2
There’s been a few citrus-driven releases of late (and more to come I think) as craft brewers start cutting big beer’s grass.
Good George Bandido — a Mexican lager with lime — riffs off a certain ubiquitous clear-bottled lager stuffed with a lime wedge.
It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those, but based on my distant memories I would go as far as saying this offering from Good George is better than the source material. It might sound cynical to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, it’s just that lime can be finicky to get right and I wasn’t entirely sure how this might play out.
But the lime is neither too tart nor too sweet. It never veers into lime cordial territory nor does it leave your mouth puckering — rather it delivers a subtle twist of flavour.
The packaging looks great as well, plus it’s reasonable value at sub-$20 in the six-pack format.
Remember, if you want to get this or other great craft beers, your destination is the home of good beer, New World.
Why Guinness is doing so well in America
We’re just three weeks away from the biggest Guinness day of the year, and despite the plethora of articles that have been written — and are sure to flow in coming days — I thought I’d go back to the black well one more time.
This is a good piece from Dave Infante, looking at Guinness in America and how it’s primarily an on-premise brand and what that means for the craft industry.
Guinness May Be Special, but the Blueprint for Its Boom Sure Isn't | VinePair
Beer of the Week No 3
The latest release in Heyday Brewing’s lager series, Coastal Pilsner is an intriguing drop.
With a great hop pairing of Saphir and Motueka it plays to a modern spin on noble hops. There’s lots of woody, herbal character undercut with lime.
I often judge a beer’s satisfaction by the aftertaste, and the flavour on this hangs around with a pleasing intensity.
It’s so different to the usual pilsner choices we have, with a distinctive hedge and herb quality that grabs your attention.
I’ll finish with some holiday-dreaming stuff … beer spas!
6 of the top beer spas across the world
Cheers,
Michael
Must visit that pub next time I'm in Christchurch (which will be in a couple of weeks!). Love being served a proper pint. Agree with you, let's start advertising the price of beer per 100ml instead.
We’ve just opened a wine bar, ground, in Auckland’s CBD. We charge $10 for a Heineken bottle, can of Sawmill Pilsner and a few more. Reasonable pricing we believe.