Well-known Dunedin brewery for sale
Beers that think they're desserts, beers that are good for your gut, "soul" beers for the dark nights, beers for the long weekend ... yep, there's a lot about beer in here.
In the latest news this week, the well-known Dunedin brewery New New New is up for sale. The brewery has been going for five years but co-owner Ian McKinlay says it’s time to move on. The brewery and the brand are for sale, for $1.7m, but not the historic building in which its housed. I talked to McKinlay about some of the challenges he faced and why he’s selling.
If you’re in Auckland this weekend and are going to GABS, do come along and say hello. I’ll be hosted a series of events as part of the GABS Academy. There’s beer and nut matching, a quiz, panel discussions with the likes of Liberty, Alibi, Bootleg and Urbanaut, plus tastings of beers that imitate cocktails and a “degustation” of beers based on food.
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Let them drink cake
Hoppiness writer Luke Owen Smith has taken a deep dive into the world of dessert beers — including pastry stouts and ice cream sours. These decadent beers are definitely bringing new people into the beer world.
On a similar note, for these short days and long nights I’ve come up with my list of 10 “soul beers” for winter comfort.
To good health
We’ve always been told that beer is a bad for your gut… as in drink too much and you’ll get a beer belly. But in handy news for beer drinkers everywhere, it turns out beer is good for your gut after all.
A study in Portugal has found that drinking one 330ml serving of beer each night for four weeks improved the microbiome (or gut bacteria) of the people in the study. Basically, like other fermented foods promoted for their probiotic benefits, beer makes your insides more healthy. And having a healthier gut is linked to lots of good outcomes such as reduced stress and anxiety, better immune function and lower risk for several chronic diseases. Of course it’s not as simple as all that, but given the mountain of negativity beer often has to fight on the health front, a bit of good news doesn’t hurt.
Beer of the week No 1
I totally love a great Red IPA and I have to say that in the past couple of years the quality of these beers has increased dramatically. I think it has something to do with a combination of malts used and hopping techniques. In the past some Red IPAs tended to be a bit harsh, with acidity from the darker malts and bittering hops doubling down to create too much astringency. Maybe it’s the haze craze that’s brought a new perspective, but the best of these that I’ve enjoyed are the unfiltered versions. This from Sawmill is unbelievably good. Robust yet smooth, muscular but gentle, rich but with a nice hoppy bite. Excellent example.
Pubs to get away from it at
I first heard about the Vulcan Hotel in St Bathans when I was a young sports journo at The Press in Christchurch in the early 1990s, and my sports editor was a fellow called John Brooks, who told a wonderful tale of staying in the haunted room at the hotel. I’ve since visited, and enjoyed a pint, but I didn’t see any ghosts, although it’s easy enough to imagine them. Anyway, that memory came back when I saw this article from Stuff about remote pubs. There’s some good ones on the list and if you’ve been to them all you’re better travelled than I am because I’ve only managed six of the 10.
Girl power
Hat tip to the team at Sprig + Fern for the release of their hazy Yeah The Girls.
For every kilo of hops that has gone into making the beer, $6 goes towards Pink Boots Society, an international initiative which teaches and up-skills women in the beverage industry.
On the subject of empowering women, one of the stories making waves overseas this week is the return of Tired Hands founder Jean Broillet who stepped away from the brewery after staff voiced concerns about the “dude-bro” culture he created at the brewery. Which begs the question, since beer had it’s #metoo reckoning what has changed? Denise Garland looks at what has happened here in New Zealand.
Beer of the week No 2
Alibi Brewing have about a month left in their reign as New Zealand’s champion exhibitor at the 2021 Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards. Judging by some of their new releases they might have a chance of defending that title, or at least picking up a few more medals. I must admit I had to look up the meaning of Kummerspeck. It seems to translate literally to “grief bacon”, or more loosely, eating because you’re feeling down. Well if that’s the case then this beer will cheer you up no end. It’s described as a Franconian Zwickle (zwickel and zwickl being alternative spellings) and is a bit like a Kellerbier. To make it easier to understand it’s a nutty, malty, fruity, hoppy lager that’s balanced to perfection. Couldn’t stop smiling as I drank it.
Slime beer pulled from shelves
I give you the following link, purely for the TikTok video on the slime coming out of a can of beer. Molson Coors last week issued a voluntary withdrawal of Coors Light and Keystone Light brewed at the company’s Trenton Brewery in Ohio. A spokesperson for Molson Coors said the withdrawal is not a recall, saying the beers in question did not pose any food-related safety threats. They won’t even say if the recall is leaked to the slime video. But you know: smoke, fire.
A “what if…?” question
I was wandering the world wide web for something I’m working on about Garage Project when I found this article from a few years before the brewery started and immediately wondered what might have happened had GP’s first brewery space at 68-70 Aro Street been turned into an urban camping ground called Aroasis?
Speaking of Garage Project, they’ve just released a 12.1 per cent, barrel-aged, mixed ferment quadruple IPA called Louche Lips. Here’s what Hoppiness reviewer Tim Newman had to say about it.
A sneakery move
In a world where making your beer standout from the crowd or taking it to a new audience is critical, collaborations are the go-to. We’ve seen plenty here in Aotearoa over the years and Garage Project has just partnered with My Food Bag for some beer-and-food matching in July. But the one that caught my eye was the Reebook-Harpoon hook-up in the US. Harpoon’s Rec League is a low calorie hazy brewed which makes it a good fit with shoe seller Reebok because, you know, lifestyle beers… But what I liked about this tie-was the packaging: the beer coming to you in a shoe box.
Bad news for beer drinkers
“It was one thing after another. It was a miracle people could still go down to the supermarket and buy a pack of beer.”
That quote comes from Joe Wood in a story about the supply chain issues and rising costs affecting NZ breweries. The story is paywalled ($) at newsroom.co.nz but if you hang tight, I’m negotiating to reprint the article in the August edition of Pursuit of Hoppiness because it’s a pretty good summary of where we’re at in the beer industry right now… ie things are tight for those doing the making and about to get more expensive for those of us doing the buying. In the meantime, at least you can sup your pint knowing we’re not alone in the world: here’s US beer writer Dave Infante on the same subject across the Pacific.
And now for some good news
The Malthouse held it’s annual Darkest Days festival and the results are in on the People’s Choice winners:
1st Double Vision Brewing Luscious Loompa Chocolate Orange Porter
2nd Fork and Brewer Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa Chocolate Milk Stout
3rd McLeod's Brewery Windswept Coffee Schwarzbier Dark Lager
Staff pick: Duncan's Brewing Co. Pecan and Muscovado Pie Pastry Stout
Beer of the week No 3
After this I’m going to shut-up about low carb beer for a while, I promise! I went to a friend’s last Saturday to watch the Super Rugby final and eat some Indian takeaway. I wanted a couple of beers and I wanted to drive home because it was a pretty grim night in Auckland weather-wise. And for matching with Indian, I wanted a beer with a nice hoppy taste. Having just 3.5 per cent ABV, Deep Creek LoCal was spot on. It’s very flavoursome indeed and I like it a lot.
One from archives
Mark Pacey is a beer enthusiast who works at the Wairarapa Archive and last year he published a book on the history of brewing in Masterton.
Out of that came the following excerpt that appeared, strangely enough, on the Aussie website Beer & Brewer. It’s an entertaining look back to 1976 and the brewery workers’ strike that left some pubs without beer.
Enjoy your Matariki holiday and may your beer never run out!
