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My work here is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0 NZ LicensePrior to May 2012, posts were back-dated to the time of their original pen-and-paper Diary entries and podcasts were given arbitrary dates so as to fit in a nice 'reading order' on the front page. It really was terribly confusing, eventually. Sincere apologies for the philosophy-headaches which resulted.
I'm still committed to back-filling the gap between the actual Diary and the blog, I've just stopped mucking with the dates and will occasionally intersperse much-more-recent 'topical' stuff when my journalistic impulses overtake my historian slowness.
My views are entirely my own, though anyone is more than welcome to agree with me.
Category Archives: Rambles and rants
Crafty Beggars
It is, apparently, Brandwank Monsoon Season. At least I won’t suffer for material.1 As was spotted by the eagle eye of Dominic (from Hashigo Zake) some months ago in the Trademark Registry, “Crafty Beggars” is a new brand / imprint / … Continue reading
Posted in Diary entries, Rambles and rants
Tagged Brandwank, Diary pages, from New Zealand, Lager, Pale ale, tasted November 2012, Wheat
44 Comments
The Moa IPO
This was one of the least surprising developments in the local beer industry. Moa started out cloaked in faux-exclusivity, long before they leapt into bed with arch-brandwanker Geoff Ross (of 42 Below vodka fame). He, and much of his old … Continue reading
Get More From Your Beer
I had the good fortune, this year, to be invited to present a little seminar at Beervana. Given the title Get More From Your Beer, the idea was to help wrap up the final (Saturday evening) session with a bit of … Continue reading
Posted in Rambles and rants
4 Comments
‘Porter Noir’
So Monteith’s — i.e., D.B. (i.e., Asia Pacific Breweries) — has re-commissioned the Greymouth brewery that they, in a near-unprecedented display of tin-eared-ness, originally decided to close back in 2001. It was essentially a museum for several years, but they’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Rambles and rants
19 Comments
Boundary Road’s ‘The Resident’
First, let’s just go ahead and stipulate that Brian — ‘Spike’ — Buckowski is a totally stand-up dude and a talented brewer. I’ve heard absolutely nothing to the contrary and it was pretty clear from the blog of his travels that … Continue reading
Hofbräu Maibock (and the gdmfing Reinheitsgebot)
Beer first, rant second. It was a favourite rant, back when I was bartending, but for once I should go beer first. And despite the seemingly-faint praise in my notes, I really did quite like this one. That garish and … Continue reading
Posted in Diary entries, Rambles and rants
Tagged Brandwank, Diary pages, from Germany, Lager, tasted July 2011
5 Comments
DB ‘Export Beer’
To re-cap, almost cretainly unnecessarily: beer has alcohol in it, alcohol is massively regulated and subject to substantial taxes, and the vast bulk of beer on the market is made by a few giant companies (themselves usually part of sprawling industry … Continue reading
Posted in Diary entries, Rambles and rants
Tagged Brandwank, Diary pages, from New Zealand, Lager
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The ‘Chosen One’ Choosing
‘Boundary Road Brewery’ needs scare-quotes around it, because it’s not properly a thing. It’s a sub-brand of Independent Liquor, who were recently acquired by Japanese supergiant Asahi, and they’re trying to position themselves as a “craft brewer” alongside the pseudo-craft imprints … Continue reading
Posted in Diary entries, Rambles and rants
Tagged Brandwank, Diary pages, from New Zealand, Lager, tasted June 2011
1 Comment
Beer 121: The Audiobook
I’m not sure if any / many of you are sufficiently curious about this to actually push play — whether to eavesdrop on a tasting session, or just to have a sample of my peculiar untraceable accent (and occasionally-substantial lisp) … Continue reading