Radler Trademark Hearing
Last week, in a well thought-out ploy to confuse Dominion Breweries' lawyers, we announced that our pre-Radler Hearing Social would be on May 2nd. We can now reveal that the first Tuesday of May is in fact the 3rd. So SOBA members and anyone supporting SOBA in their legal fight with a certain multinational industrial brewing corporation should come down and join in the mocking.
Here are some things we would consider doing on the night if DB's trademark didn't make it illegal:
- Serve free samples of a genuine German Radler from the Waldhaus brewery.
- Reproduce an authentic Radler by spontaneously blending lager and lemonade.
Instead, all we'll be offering is Monteith's Radler. Yeah right.
Moa
Speaking of breweries whose behaviour we don't necessarily approve of, Moa have been in the news lately. Moa is now controlled by the same interests who persuaded many New Zealanders to invest in 42 Below Vodka, before forcing them to sell out to a multinational corporation. And they're revisiting the 42 Below play book, one chapter at a time, starting with goading some of society's most easily riled factions into gifting them publicity.
As irksome as these activities are, they aren't on the same level as subverting intellectual property law and using deep pockets to shut out competition, so we can't be too hard on Moa. Plus there's no sign of the beer deteriorating.
So in that spirit we look forward to Black Power. Yes that's what they've called their chocolate wheat beer. That's right a chocolate wheat beer. According to our scouts at Marchfest, Black Power rewards the drinker with a nice blend of chocolate and isoamyl acetate. And equally welcome will be the return of the beautifully aromatic Five Hop Ale.
Hud-a-wa'
In their eternal quest for the most obscure beer name possible, the Yeastie Boys have outdone themselves with Hud-a-wa'.
We'll delegate the task of explaining this to Stu McKinlay himself, who has been looking forward to having a succession of customers approach him (he's the one with randomly coloured trousers) and say "hud-a-wot?".
Meanwhile here's the official description:
Hud-a-wa' Strong (6.8%) could loosely be described as a new world Imperial ESB (or perhaps a mini-Barleywine?). Strong, red, richly malty and judiciously hopped with Nelson-grown Styrian Golding, Pacifica and Cascade hops. Those who liked His Majesty 2010 (and we certainly did) should find this to be their kind of beer.
Hud-a-wa' is making its debut on our hand pump as you read this. (Unless you've left it in your inbox for too long.) It will be on tap soon.
If Hud-a-wa' proves popular, and maybe even if it doesn't, we'll continue to stock it in bottles. That's because it's destined to be Yeastie Boys' second year-round beer. Their third isn't far off either. It will be Rex Attitude, thought to be unique in being a commercial beer made with 100% peated malt. But more about Rex another day...
Marchfest Beers
As well as the aforementioned Moa Black Power we've picked up a handful of other beers that featured at Marchfest. One is Renaissance's Sons of Liberty. What's noteworthy about Sons of Liberty is that the wort comes from the second runnings of Renaissance's yet-to-be-released Barley Wine. Look out also for the elusive Dead Good IPA and Australasia's best porter - Elemental.
We've also picked up a couple of beers from Founders, including their Marchfest beer. That is AK4.7, a hoppy autumn ale. Presumably it's still autumn in Nelson.
Treats from California
A few months ago certain outlets, including ourselves, well.. especially ourselves, were seemingly awash with big, aggressive, hoppy and fresh beer from Ballast Point, Green Flash, Bear Republic and Coronado. We've all done our part because the stocks of Californian beer in New Zealand are starting to run down. Luckily we have access to what supplies are left. But over the next few weeks, be warned that each time a Big Eye, a Sculpin or a Green Flash IPA appears on tap somewhere, it might be the last time for a while.
The good news is that planning has begun on our next shipment of similar products.
Oyster Stout
On handpump.
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