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Welcome to BorderPost, Issue 16
February 13, 2015
Welcome back to BorderPost.
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Trouble on Wharf
In our part of the world we seem to be living in an era when strikes, work-to-rules and lock outs are distinctly unfashionable. So it feels anachronistic when our business finds itself in the crossfire of an old fashioned dispute over wages. But that’s what has been going on for months and it seems to be escalating.
Right now a container load of beer from some of California and Oregon’s most special and interesting breweries is sitting on a vessel, tied up at a Los Angeles wharf. After many delays it was due to set sail to New Zealand today. But just before it was due to steam out of port, the Pacific Maritime Association – an association of 29 port operators – announced that the ports would shut down for several days rather than pay workers to come in on what’s a kind of holiday weekend. It may sail early next week, or there is every chance it will be delayed a few more days.
The economic damage of this dispute – already inflicted and potentially getting much worse – is staggering. Pundits in the US are starting to take notice and are talking of potential economic damage in the tens of billions of dollars. They view it mostly as an issue for US retailers whose imports can’t get unloaded but there are occasional references to damage to American exporters.
We’re not going to comment on the merits of this dispute. Sorry if that disappoints anyone. Our main message today is the good news that a container load of Rogue has got through the chaos on the US side and will be in our hands any day. It’s got its fair share of goodies, some of which are outlined below.
-DK
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Events
Feb 14 - The Great Out West Brew Fest
This is now just a day away. Our team is in position and will be serving top quality Rogue and Speakeasy beers for attendees. This small festival in West Auckland had an enormously successful debut last year that we took part in. We think there are still tickets available.
There's more info here.
Feb 28 - Greater Wellington Brewday
Now in its third year, this fast growing festival takes place in the sunny Wairarapa and focuses on the output of breweries from the lower North Island. More details here.
March 4 - Yeastie Boys Crowdfunding Seminar
 We've been asked to help publicise a seminar to be held in the capital on the subject of crowdfunding with particular reference to the recent phenomenally successful fundraising exercise by Yeastie Boys. It seems Stu McKinlay will even be jetting back from the UK for it. Click on the image for details.
March 21 - Marchfest
One of the country's best known and most respected festivals, with nothing but new, untested beers made by Nelson and upper South Island breweries.
More info at http://www.marchfest.com/.
March 28 - Great Kiwi Beer Festival
Possibly New Zealand's biggest beer festival. We'll be there with what should be the most exotic thirteen tap beers that Christchurch has ever seen.
March 26 - Rare Beer Tasting
In the run-up to GKBF we're collaborating with the Woolston Twisted Hop on a tasting of "Rare Beer". More details to follow.
March 26 - Sour Beer Tasting
Also in the run-up to GKBF, we're working with another great Christchurch pub on a tasting. In this case it's Sour Beers at Pomeroy's. Again, we expect an announcement on tickets and pricing shortly.
- DK
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Beer Previews
Rogue Farms Fresh Roast.
 People can say what they like about Rogue (and they do), but the brewery are never far from the front of the queue when a new concept appears in the brewing world. Or they may just invent one. We don’t know whether they pioneered the concept of a “fresh roast†ale, but it is entirely plausible, since they are as well equipped as anyone to pull this off.
In the spirit of wet hop brewing, Rogue took advantage of the fact that they have their own barley fields and malting facility, to create a beer in which roasted malt has been fast-tracked from the roaster into the mash tun. The beer they developed this way is a brown ale, which by all accounts (i.e. on ratebeer) is a big success.
The word “coffee†appears in reviews of this beer a lot, which is entirely appropriate for its style, but we can’t help but wonder whether the “fresh roast†name has influenced reviewers’ perceptions. For the record there is no actual coffee in this beer.
Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Lemon Chiffon Crueller Ale
 Any discussion of a Rogue Voodoo Doughnut beer really needs to start with the doughnut. The inspiration for this beer is described as “French crueller with vanilla frosting, lemon dust and three marshmallows!â€, and is sold only in Voodoo’s Oregon locations, of which there are four. We’ve looked up crueller so you don’t have to and the definition is “a fried pastry often made from a rectangle of dough, with a cut made in the middle that allows it to be pulled over and through itself producing twists in the sides of the donutâ€.
It looks as though the brewers have tried only to recreate the toppings of this sweet treat. It’s “brewed with lemons, vanilla, and free-range marshmallowsâ€.
And it seems the result of this latest stunt beer is as divisive as the previous Voodoo beers, with judgements ranging from "triumph of the brewing art" to "abomination". So there’s a high likelihood that once we get to taste it our recommendation will be “buy once and add the empty bottle to your collectionâ€.
Coming Any Day – Beer Baroness Darling Clementine
 Does an announcement of this beer sound familiar? You may well have heard it being heralded once or twice already this summer. We aren’t sure whether Ava at Pomeroy’s wants this to be common knowledge but we’ll spill the beans anyway, because it’s something to be proud of. When this beer makes it around New Zealand next week, it will actually be the third full scale batch made. The previous two were deemed “not good enoughâ€. It’s not nearly as easy as it sounds to write off a batch of beer, especially when consumers aren’t uniformly sensitive to particular faults and a lot of people can overlook certain ones.
But this triumphant third batch was worth the wait. It squeezes plenty of fruity, citrusy hop flavours into an ultra pale golden ale and remains delicate and easy drinking. It’s no mean feat and we expect it do really well on tap or from hand pumps over the next few weeks.
Lord Almighty Takahe XPA
 Another Keg Only Release is Lord Almighty’s Takahe. It’s labelled an Extra Pale Ale, and has plenty in common with other beers with that tag. It’s designed to be refreshing and tart. It was brewed at Kereru in Upper Hutt for Dan Lord’s Lord Almighty label, which is simultaneously operating in both the UK and New Zealand.
- DK
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Rogue Marionberry Braggot
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 Imported November 2014.
Rogue Marionberry Braggot is a deep ruddy brown with hints of red. Alluring aromas of Honey and blackberries creep out of the glass to tempt you, this would make a great perfume.
Light carbonation struggles to get to the top of this viscus brew.
Not your usual beer, a Braggot is a fusion of grain, honey and fruit. and big at 11.4% ABV. Initially sweet with a big booze kick in the mouth that fades to a dry berry finish.
So Sweet and so fine
Luxurious berry bombshell
Honey I love you
In an eye catching deep purple painted bottle this would be a great gift for the beer-geek that has had everything, or a surprise to a hop head.
Made with 17 Ingredients all sources from the Rogue Farms including honey from 7,140,289 bees on the Rogue Farm.
Beer Without Borders is almost sold out of this, but the good news is there is more on the way and should be available next week.
Music Match: Napalm Death - When all is said and done
Movie Match: Repo! The Genetic Opera
Food Match: Cheesecake, Cheese or Christmas mince pies.
Available from: Cult Beer Store, Hashigo Zake, Fresh Choice Richmond, Hamilton Wine Company, Meenans Wines and Spirits, Moore Wilsons, Brothers Beer, LiquorLand Mt Maunganui, Fresh Choice Parklands, Liquorland Forrest Hill, Pioneer Liquor.
Ratebeer Untappd
- SW
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The Cult Beer Store
There are plenty of online stores in New Zealand selling beer. And most of them do a great job. But generally they don’t take it upon themselves to sell every single beer that we import or distribute. Which is one of the reasons why Hashigo Zake’s Cult Beer Store exists.
As well as being a way to sell things like event tickets or vouchers for Hashigo Zake, we’ve made sure that it stocks every bottled beer that Beer Without Borders supplies. That wasn’t necessarily true before, but a few weeks ago we did a lot of work behind the scenes to automatically copy Beer Without Borders products onto the Cult Beer Store.
So while we're happy to see consumers to do their shopping in whatever way they see fit, please note that the Cult Beer Store is ready and waiting for anyone wanting to find the beers that we champion in BorderPost.
- DK
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