Damn these recurrent hiatuses. It happened again, as these things do. But we’re back this week — rather fittingly, after the long weekend — with a little look at crowdfunding in the beer business, some reminiscences over my marvellous trip to the Mussel Inn, and looking forward to the Great Kiwi Beer Festival this very weekend, at which I’ll be doing one of my little rambles. All that by way of bicycle bells and videogames, and accompanied by two rather strikingly different Beers Of The Week.

There are several sadly-long-neglected episodes in our proverbial back pocket, which I’ll upload over the coming weeks. You — our listeners and our excellent guests — have our apologies, and also our welcome back.

As always, a direct download of this episode is available, should that better-suit your listening habits. We’re on iTunes and there’s also a podcast-specific RSS feed you can follow through whatever app or gadget you listen to these things with. For handy reference, you can direct people to podcast.beerdiary.nz, and you should feel free to contact us — via this very page, the podcast’s Twitter account, or on Facebook — with any feedback, corrections, suggestions, or whatnot. Cheers!

— Show notes:

• (2.30): Beer Of The Week #1: Monteith’s Velvet Stout, in lieu of the traditional Guinness, given we were recording on March 17.
• (4.30): I couldn’t find anything. But I’m terrible at history research.
• (7.00) My run-in with Monteith’s white-label APA still annoys me.
• (8.00) Here, have a map and such.
• (9.00) Mussel Inn was founded in 1995. And you really should go.
• (12.30) Well, look at that. ‘Fancy little carriage’ is among the many meanings of gig.
• (13.30) Crowdfunding. If you want to get in on the Choice Bros. thing, you have mere hours. But it’s mathematically very unlikely to succeed. Martin’s write-up is here. The best writing on the Stone Fiasco was the trilogy (ep I, ep II, ep III) from Australia’s Glen Humpries.
• (21.50) The bike bell is here, and also mere hours from closing, having smashed its target nearly fifty times over. I just bought two.
• (23.30) Nice timing, though: now I can buy Day Of The Tentacle. Though I’d happily buy two beers for Tim Schafer, if he is on the yet-to-be-compiled Definitive List.
• (26.50) A little Moa update, why not. The graphs are fun.
• (29.00) The “beer back guarantee” is indeed Monteith’s.
• (29.20) Beer Of The Week #2: Hallertau ‘Primal Descent’.
• (32.30) I don’t have any decent photos — those bottles I mention are still in my fridge — but there’s an instructive line-up of the Hallertau label families on their website. They go, in order: fine, delicious, yerk.
• (33.30) ‘Will It Shandy?’ is available here, and/or at Dylan’s. The post about the former ubiquity of draught ginger beer was from Martyn Cornell.
• (36.40) Beer festivals. GABS Auckland will be June 18, and the GKBF is next weekend. I’m procrastinating from my seminar homework as I upload this. And the weather looks good so far.
• (42.00) Recommendations: Hop Federation ‘American Brown’, from me, predictably. By “that” I mean the Hallertau, hopefully obviously. Like we said, referents are hard. ParrotDog ‘Pandemonium’, from George, who doesn’t need the disclaimer I do. Also: Alastair Reynolds’ Poseidon’s Children triology, of which I’m now into the third installment, and The Better Call Saul Insider. Meanwhile, I am coming around on the Merrick Garland nomination; seems like good tactics verging on A-grade trolling.
• (49.20) Cue the music: ‘Shopping for Explosives’, by The Coconut Monkeyrocket. Audio editing done in Audacity. Habitual thanks to both.