Superdelic: the latest powerhouse hop released
Win a double pass to Marchfest! Non-alc beer gets research backing as a post-workout drink. Scotland's proposed alcohol advertising ban draws heat. How Gonzo artist came to design beer labels
Welcome to Friday Night Beers, your wrap of beer news, views and reviews from around New Zealand and the world.
First up thanks for all the messages of support following last week’s email.
As I write, another big deluge is poised to hit the upper North Island but I’m hoping/praying to avoid any more carnage.
I did like this one response from my friend Vera about the superb-tasting, semi-chilled Peroni I enjoyed in the aftermath of the storm:
I loved what you wrote about the Peroni. It's something I think about often, as I try to keep my beer snobbery in check. A few years ago, Heston Blumenthal spoke in Auckland and told the story of going for a holiday in a coastal town in France and having the best wine of his life. So, so good that he bought a few cases and drove it back to England, only to discover that it tasted like absolute piss when he was back home. His argument was that it's not so much that the wine "didn't travel well", it was that he suddenly wasn't drinking it in a beautiful coastal town in France, on holiday. There's a lot that goes into how things taste, and so much of it happens away from the tastebuds, eh.
And my reference to the quote “All beer is good but some beer is better” … I was informed by Grant Caunter from State of Play, that ut was a marketing line once used by Monteith’s!
But I knew I’d read another version, and the closest I can find is attributed to writer and documentary maker Bill Carter, who said:
“There is no such thing as a bad beer. It’s that some taste better than others.”
Superdelic hits the cans
New Zealand Hops Ltd has just released its latest commercial hop variety, Superdelic.
It was formerly known as NZH-102, and I have to applaud NZ Hops for the name. It’s not easy coming up with trademarket-able names, and inventing a word is a good way to do so. In this case, Superdelic is a mighty good neologism. Especially when words like “trippy” and “candy” are being used to describe it. In my head, it’s not a long way from Psychocandy, by The Jesus & The Chain, to psychedelic, to Superdelic.
And NZ Hops got revved up on the marketing side, by using brewers’ tasting notes to create some AI art to design the image (above).
Sawmill partnered with NZ Hops to release the first Superdelic-branded beer, a Hazy IPA, and if it’s anything like the NZH-102 beer that Sawmill previously did, it will rock.
“From the very first brew we knew it was something special,” said Mike Sutherland of Sawmill. “In a Hazy IPA it revealed its ripe mango, sweet berry, and citrus notes. We also noticed its unique performance, with great biotransformation properties from dry hopping during active fermentation. It is an incredible addition to our brewery. We were lucky to be one of the first to try it.”
It turns out that the NZ Hops release of Superdelic came just days after I saw this tweet from Jeff Alworth:
Jeff’s tweet contained a trick question (spoiler alert: they are all names of German hop varieties!). His main point was related to how we classify hops: traditionally that’s aroma, bittering, flavour (and you could say dual-purpose, but then every hop is multi-purpose these days). He noted that the latest issue of Hopfen, the German hop industry magazine, introduced another category: fine aroma. And Jeff was having none of that!
WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO MARCHFEST
Speaking of hops the annual hop harvest is almost upon us and that means one thing: Marchfest
Marchfest, held inside the very cool Founders Park (worth a visit in its own right), is a showcase of the Tasman region’s top breweries — including many that are not on the usual festival circuit such as Golden Bear and The Mussel Inn as well as cool newcomers like Brood Fermentation, DNA and Flavourtorium (the brewery arm of The Free House).
There will also be the more well-known locals such as Sprig & Fern, Townshends, Eddyline … and some key out-of-towners like Garage Project and Urbanaut. Each brewery will have a special festival beer, so it’s a great chance to sample something you’ve never had before in a truly festive setting, which includes great food, music and a Kids Zone. There’s also a non-alcoholic ticket option available.
If you’d like to go to Marchfest, here at Friday Night Beers, with the support of the team at Marchfest and Pursuit of Hoppiness, we have 4 pairs of tickets to giveaway, each pair valued at $110.
So if you’d like to be in the draw to get a free double pass, just email me: michael@hoppiness.co.nz with the word Marchfest in the subject line. Simple as that!
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