News

The Guild would like to notify our members of the updated Advertising Guidelines from the ASA, effective January 1, 2013.

Please take a moment to download these here and read them.

Of note is the recommendation for websites:

3(i) Websites that primarily promote an alcohol brand and contain games, competitions or other interactive activities shall have an Age Verification Page at entry. Verification shall be by way of input of the visitor’s date of birth.

Memebers who have any comments on these guidelines are welcome to contact the Guild.

We are looking another brewer for the Good George brewery based in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The role encompasses all facets of production with particular emphasis on a hands-on approach to brewing. 

The successful candidate requires at least 2 years brewing experience with Tertiary education highly desirable. The successful candidate will possess the ability to grow, with the opportunity to gain further education and develop a real buzz in an emerging beer market.

There is an excellent package on offer and an exciting and challenging position for the right applicant with the willingness to learn, great interpersonal skills and a drive to produce premium products at the highest of quality.

Please send full CV and references to: brian@contractbrewing.com

Press Release: Another Qualified Brewer at Steam

11 September 2012

The Institute of Brewing & Distilling, a UK based members organisation dedicated to the training and education of the international brewing community, has recently released the results of their globally recognised qualification exams.

Logistics Manager and Quality Controller Mr Tom Ashton was one of the successful candidates sitting exams this year and Steam Brewing Company would like to congratulate him for his well-deserved pass marks. Well done Tom for passing your final exam (Diploma Module 3 – Process and Packaging Technology) and completing your IBD Diploma in Brewing.

Tom is extremely pleased to have attained the qualification and looks forward to receiving the official ‘IBD Diploma in Brewing Tankard’. “There are not many people in NZ able to use the post-nominals 'Dipl. Brew' and they are all quite intelligent” says Sam Williamson (Dipl. Brew). “Congrats Tom” adds Shane Morley (M. Brew).

The team at Steam Brewing Company have now completed four General Certificates, three Brewing Diplomas and a Masters in Brewing between their (now) 7 full-time staff. This coupled with the company’s comprehensive list of accreditation (and beer-awards tally) has gained them a highly regarded reputation in the contract packaging industry.

Steam Brewing Company would also like to take this time to welcome Stewart Hickford to their team. He has a comprehensive knowledge of packaging and will be a valuable member of the team.

Steam Brewing Company is a custom beverage team empowered by their brewing expertise. Their Otahuhu facility is able to blend, brew, package and pasteurize a wide variety of cold beverages and pack sizes.

www.steambrewing.co.nz

www.ibd.org.uk

The Guild would like to take a moment to update our members and the brewing community about Ted Verrity.

We apologise for the lack of communication in the first instance, however we have respected Ted and Frances' wishes for some privacy, but with their blessing we are happy to report that Ted is doing well after suffering a stroke, and is currently in rehabilitation at Keneperu (Wellington).

Frances says that Ted has walked unaided and his doctors are pleased with his progress. He hopes to be home in the next week.
 
Ted and Frances would like to take a moment to thank all those in the beer community who have been generous with their support and good wishes.

We know we speak for everyone when we send our thoughts and best wishes to them both at this time and we hope for Ted's swift recovery.
 

MEDIA RELEASE
18 June 2012
Home Brewing celebrated at Beervana 2012
Entries open for Black Rock Home Brew Competition
 
Beervana and Black Rock announced today the inaugural Black Rock Home Brew Competition to be held at Beervana 2012.

The Competition is a chance for aspiring brewers to have their brews judged by Black Rock Master Brewer Kirsten Taylor, Taranaki brewing guru Joseph Wood from Liberty Brewing, and beer aficionados and home-brew advocates Simon Morton and Richard Scott from Radio New Zealand's 'This Way Up' programme.

“We constantly get emails from passionate home brewers wanting to show off their wares at Beervana,” explains Festival Director David Cryer. “This year, with Black Rock’s help, we can offer home brewers a chance to demonstrate their skill at the event.”

Black Rock Master Brewer Kirsten Taylor believes supporting home brewers is critical to grow a vibrant beer industry. “Home brewers are experimental by nature. Their quest for knowledge, to understand what makes good beer, often leads to brilliant results as they manipulate hops, malt and technique.”

“For producers like us, what home brewers do with our products is really inspiring. I’m expecting to see lots of innovation in the competition entries!”
She also believes that brewing for competition is often the catalyst for home brewers to become professional.

“Competitions encourage home brewers to look at what’s currently available and what styles or brands they might aspire to be able to brew like. It makes them focus on the consumer.

“Competition also often helps brewers break through barriers in the standard of their brews, as they pay more attention to sanitation and other aspects of the brewing process.  And of course the feedback gained from competition is invaluable too,” says Taylor.

Ten finalists will be chosen, including two runners-up and an overall winner. The finalists and winners will be announced at 9pm on Friday 17 August at Beervana Session 2. Every entrant will have an opportunity to talk to the judges after the winners are announced.

The winner will take home a GA double-pass to Beervana 2013, three 6-pack cases of malt extract of their choice from Black Rock, $200 voucher for Martin Bosley's restaurant, and a year subscription to Dish magazine. The runners-up will win a GA double-pass to Beervana 2013 and one 6-pack case of malt extract of their choice from Black Rock.

ENDS

For further information contact Jessica Venning-Bryan, Jessica@beervana.co.nz or 027 528 0257. Or visit www.beervana.co.nz/hbcomp

Media accreditation for Beervana 2012 can be completed online at www.beervana.co.nz/media

Press Release – Croucher Brewing Company

In the largest annual beer competition in the world, Rotorua’s own Croucher Brewing Pilsner has just scooped the pool. At the Australian International Beer Awards Croucher Pilsner won GOLD and TROPHY for BEST PILSNER.Kiwi craft brewery takes on the world and wins!

In the largest annual beer competition in the world, Rotorua’s own Croucher Brewing Pilsner has just scooped the pool.

At the Australian International Beer Awards Croucher Pilsner won GOLD and TROPHY for BEST PILSNER. Croucher Pale Ale also had success picking up a silver medal.

This is the latest in a string of accolades for the local brewers having won the title of New Zealand Beer Cup Champion in 2011, Champion International Lager and Champion New Zealand beer in 2010. Nigel Gregory from Croucher Brewing was hopeful that their beers would stand up well at the Australian Awards given their recent track record in NZ, “We’ve started to build some momentum with each of our range winning major awards over the last few years, and it is unbelievably satisfying after a lot of hard graft”.

While Croucher Brewing’s beers have long attracted critical acclaim from such wine critics as Bob Campbell MW, it has only recently gained recognition in the International Brewing Community. Part of the reason for this is an increased understanding and respect for New Zealand styled craft beers. Paul Croucher, brewer, said “We’ve been pushing New Zealand hops into otherwise classic styles of beer and in the past the Judges have complained our Pilsner wasn’t Czech enough and our Pale Ale wasn’t English enough. Now, new categories have evolved and Judges are happy to embrace the new styles coming out of New Zealand of which we like to think we are pioneers.”

While Croucher Brewing only began its push into the Australian market in late 2010, Australia already rivals New Zealand as the top market for its beer. “Australian’s are becoming beer savvy very quickly and despite their excruciatingly high excise tax there are still enough Aussies prepared to pay for something special.”

Sales of craft beer in New Zealand are also growing strongly, and that is against a backdrop of falling sales for mainstream beers. Mr Gregory said, “New Zealand produces many world class craft beers. It is a particularly exciting and dynamic segment of the liquor industry. We urge Kiwi’s to get out and support the craft brewers in their region, and discover the wonderful flavours of craft beer.”

The Croucher Brewing Company is owned by Nigel Gregory and Paul Croucher. It is a craft beer brewery established in 2004 and specialises in making beers that are delicious – not alcoholic soft drinks! Croucher Brewing won the Rotorua’s Emerging Business Of The Year in 2007 and since then has grown into one of New Zealand’s premier craft breweries exporting to Australia and Singapore. In 2011, Croucher Brewing opened BREW | Craft Beer Pub, its own retail pub focused on great New Zealand craft beer and beer inspired food.

Yeastie Boys to release champion tea beer
Press Release
Yeastie Boys, 6 June 2012
For immediate use

Wellington's Yeastie Boys' this week announced the nationwide release of their trophy winning "Gunnamatta" India Pale Ale.  The beer, which beat out 60 other breweries to be crowned "People's Choice" at Melbourne's Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular last month, is a "tea-leafed" India Pale Ale that has taken Australasia by storm over the last few weeks.

The creation of this unique beer, which uses Earl Grey Blue flower tea instead of hops, saw the Yeastie Boys work through a variety of potential teas and tisanes with Wellington based tea company t Leaf T before picking the particular blend that Gunnamatta uses. Yeastie Boys Creative Director, Stu McKinlay, explains: "We went into developing Gunnamatta with quite a fixed idea, based around finding one of the robust single estate teas that we'd read about in the extensive menu, but the team at t Leaf T totally blew our mind with the options available.  We ended up choosing Earl Grey Blue Flower for its pungent perfume of citrus and floral notes, knowing immediately that this would work brilliantly in the type of base beer we had in mind."

"In many ways, it takes the celebration of the development of India Pale Ale one step further than normal" said Yeastie Boys' Directive Creator, Sam Possenniskie. "This kind of ale was shipped from England to India and, once emptied, those ships were filled with tea for the return journey. This beer also goes both ways." However, McKinlay has a different take on the beer. "Sam sure does come up with some interesting intellectual text but, to get directly to the truth of the matter, I just got fed up with chocolate and coffee beers being the trend du jour and thought it was time to put tea into the limelight. I grew up in a tea drinking family, so it has always been my hot drink of choice. We had tea with breakfast, morning tea, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper and before bed. We'd even slip a few in between just for tea's sake.  It was part tradition, part theatre - just like this beer is for us now!"

The Gunnamatta name, like many of Yeastie Boys creations, has caused some intrigue. McKinlay elaborates: "It's a beach break on the southern coast of Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and it inspired a Paul Kelly song of the same name on his 2004 album Ways and Means.  As the beer was initially developed for an Australian based beer festival, we wanted it to be inspired by Australian music in some way. We took some wild conceptual rides before Gunnamatta's surf rock left us with a vision of surfing, good friends, a few beers and lots of cups of tea.  Using tea in a beer was one of hundreds of ideas gestating in Stu's head, so the music just induced a pre-existing idea."  The Yeastie Boys asked Paul Kelly if it was okay to mention his name in beer's story on the label and Kelly generously replied with the okay and a nice touch of editing. "As a long time fan, that was probably more exciting than wining the People's Choice," gushed an exuberant McKinlay "we've promised to send him some beer when it hits Australia's shores."

Despite numerous requests, from beer geeks and knitting groups, there are currently no plans to add the beer to Yeastie Boys' leftfield regular range.  As Sam Possenniskie explains "We're quite sure it's popularity is linked to the transit of Venus. We'll brew enough to last us through to spring and then we'll think about releasing it again in 2117."

Gunnamatta will be available nationwide from 11th June, for several months, through Yeastie Boys' distributor BeerNZ Ltd.  It will be available in Australia from early July through Innspire Pty Ltd.

The Yeastie Boys already have plans for the beer that will win them the People's Choice at the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular in 2013.

Gunnamatta technical information:
Malt: Golden Promise Pale Malt, Carapils, Caramunich, Wheat
Hops: Pacifica, Motueka, Southern Cross, Pacific Jade
Tea: Earl Grey Blue Flower from ”t leaft T”
Yeast: “Chico” (US ale)
Alcohol: 6.5%abv
Bitterness: 52ibu

About Yeastie Boys:
Yeastie Boys is a multiple award-winning Wellington based meta-brewery having more fun than everyone else.  The brainchild of Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie - two of New Zealand's leading beer activists - the brewery has been picking up trophies and receiving critical acclaim since 2008. The only brewery to ever win two trophies for a single beer at the Brewers Guild of New Zealand beer awards (for their flagship Pot Kettle Black), they are also one of the few breweries to regularly receive hate mail (for their infamous Rex Attitude).  They're pleased to report they occasionally receive love letters too!  Yeastie Boys occasionally use Comic Sans in their press releases, just because everyone else hates it so much.

Contact:
Stu McKinlay
stu@yeastieboys.co.nz
+64 27 4186639

There has been a bit of discussion online about entry to the AIBA so the Guild thought that we would post the following clarification around entry, with thanks to Sam Williamson from Steam for his enquiries.

The AIBA have released a full explanation of how the system works, to read the document please click here
 
International Breweries can contact events@rasv.com.au if they wish to send smaller quantities to the AIBA this year.

Contract Breweries

Contract Brewed beers (such as "Bill's Hightail Ale" which is brewed at Steam Brewing) can be entered into the AIBA and will show up in the results booklet and certificates as:
 
Best Ale
Bill’s Hightale Ale
Bill’s Brewery,
AUCKLAND NZ
Class X, Exhibit X
 
However the medal tally points from this result will not go towards Steam's Champion Brewery tally. Contract Brewed beers cannot win champion brewery unless entered by the Brewery that it was brewed at.
 
Remember, entries close 24th Feb (Tomorrow).

More info at the AIBA website www.beerawards.com
 

The Sutton Group Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards have been judged, with 8 Wired Brewing taking out the top honors to become The Champion Brewery in New Zealand.
 
With 465 entries in 2011, the Awards drew the biggest entry tally since their inception in 2001, up from 446 in 2010 and 348 in 2009.
 
In its tenth year, the Awards are run by the Brewers Guild of New Zealand who represent the majority of breweries in New Zealand.

Full Details of the Trophy Winners

New Zealand Champion Brewery
8 Wired Brewing
 
Champion International Brewery
Boston Beer Co
 
European Lager Styles
Steam Brewing Company
Cock & Bull German Pilsner
 
International Lager Styles
McCashins Brewery
Stoke Amber
 
British Ale Styles
Harrington's Brewery
Pig & Whistle
 
Other European Ale Styles
Tuatara Brewing Co Ltd
Tuatara Ardennes
 
US Ale Styles
Epic Brewing Company
Epic Armageddon IPA
 
New Zealand & International Ale Styles
Emerson's Brewery
Emerson's Oreti Red
 
Stout & Porter Styles
Three Boys Brewery
Three Boys Oyster Stout
 
Wheat & Other Grain Styles
Tuatara Brewing Co Ltd
Tuatara Hefe
 
Flavoured & Aged Styles (incl. Fruit/Spice/Herb/ Honey/Smoke)
8 Wired Brewing
The Big Smoke
 
New Zealand Draught
DB Breweries Ltd
Tui East India Pale Ale
 
New Zealand Lager & Premium Lager Styles
Lion Breweries
Speights Summit Lager
 
Specialty, Experimental, Aged, Barrel & Wood-Aged, Reduced Alc./Carbohydrate & Gluten-Free Styles
8 Wired Brewing
Barrel Aged Big Smoke
 
Cider & Perry Styles
Camla Farm
Camla Farm Cider
 
Cask Conditioned
Cassels & Sons Brewing Co. Ltd
Milk Stout
 
Packaging
Moa Brewing Company
Moa St Josephs Magnums
 
Festive Brew
Emerson's Brewery
Emerson's Black Op
 
Morton Coutts Trophy For Innovation
The Yeastie Boys
 
Full details of all the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards can be downloaded below.
 
For all media enquiries please email media@brewnz.co.nz

Download the Full Results Sheet below