February 6, 2014

The Big Weekend

This weekend’s big event is upon us, X-Ale, our extreme beer festival kicks off at 1pm on Saturday.

Annoyingly the annual Costumed Binge Drinker Conference is on the same weekend, meaning the attendees of CBDC will be rampaging through town on Friday and Saturday nights demanding cheap beer and shots. To combat this we are limiting our hours on Friday opening at 3pm and closing at 8pm, with security on the door the whole time to keep out stray conference-goers.

Saturday being the day of X-Ale, only ticket holders will be permitted, from 1pm to 6pm.

We’re hoping the organisers of said conference contact us next year so we can avoid such conflicts, but this year we’ll have to make do.

Noodle Bunker

Catering our bastion of sanity this Friday will be the always delicious Ramen Shop, slinging noodles out of our little cupboard of a ‘kitchen’ with immense skill.

As we’re running limited hours on Friday, Ramen Shop will be available all day from open till close (that is, 3pm-8pm).

New & Release

In a shocking change from their normal naming formula, our new release from De Molen next Tuesday is two words with an ampersand between. Alive & Kicking is an India Pale Lager (aren’t they all the rage at the moment?), brewed in the Netherlands using beer-geek-friendly hops Simcoe, Citra and Cascade. Grab it on tap from 5pm this Tuesday.

Trademark Tussle

If you were paying attention to the social networks this week, you may have noticed another beer related trademark stouch unfolding.

The latest cheeky trademark to try and slip by eagle-eyed beer geeks comes from Schippers Beer co, attempting to trademark the term ‘Chinook’. Chinook IPA is part of Schippers’ range, named after the main hop used in the beer - Chinook. Chinook hops were developed in the states by the USDA in 1985, and have recently begun to be grown by NZ Hops in Riwaka. NZ grown Chinook was first used by Liberty in his High Carb Ale.

How then, that Shippers thought that they could own the term Chinook is beyond me. It’s an ingredient in your beer, not a term distinctive to your brand.

One would hope that IPONZ would have the common sense to do a Google search and quickly deny the application, but don’t forget Radler®.

Thankfully, after hearing the concerns of passionate beer lovers, Schippers gracefully reversed the application for the mark (unlike other brewers in the past).

For quickly responding to the community’s concerns, we applaud Schippers. For trying in the first place, we give Schippers a big thumbs down.

New & Coming soon

Shifting into our new storage facility up the road uncovered a few hidden gems in our keg stock.

On tap now is the rare Hallertau Suntman IIPA (8.5%) and from Sydney Doctors Orders Plasma IPA. For cider lovers we have Zeffer’s lovely new Red Apple Cider, or if you’re after a session beer, 8 Wired Semi-Conductor is on.

We’ve organised a shipment from some new up-and-comers from Christchurch, Two Thumb Brewing. They brew their NZ Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout out at the Three Boys Brewery, and both will be on tap soon.