High strength and big hops may seem like they're here to stay, but if there’s one thing we've learnt about beer styles and trends looking back through history, it’s that nothing is ever constant. With the complexity of all that is involved, change is simply inevitable. For a start, It’s only natural for the collective palate to become bored. Something that was once popular, is more than likely to become tired and passé, it really is just the inevitability of human nature and, after all, novelty can only last so long.Then there’s the macroeconomics of the world we live in,...

You may remember I wrote about Harland Brewing a while back when we tasted their Japanese lager. It was top notch in every respect, as long as you’re into that slightly anaemic beer style - which I totally am. So I thought it might pay to try another Harland beer and today we’re running with Rumbler - a double dry hopped pale ale.Don’t know about you, but to me, the term double dry hopped just sounds sooooo tantalising… but what does it actually mean, after all, in this day and age we need to be fully armed with decent beer...

I grew up in the UK in the 80s and 90s, and at that time, Newcastle Brown Ale really did hold a particular place in the drinking culture. It had grit and authenticity, and despite it being a big hit with students, you could still picture it being imbibed after a day at the docks by a line of sweaty workers. It was Newcastle in a glass and somehow stood for something more than just the amalgamation of hops, barley and water. Sometimes beers do this, they transcend the notion of just drinking and become icons in their own right.The...

I’m a massive Pilsner fan, as you may or may not have picked up on over the last couple of years, and I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about trying today’s beer.It’s a SoCal Pilsner from our friends at One Drop and sports a description that mentions a meeting of German lagers and West Coast IPAs.This sounds like a beer that was specially made with my palate in mind as I love hops (I guess you have to be like beer perhaps?) but I also like to taste the malt, and also find descending into the dank armpit of...

CO2 is a pretty hot topic these days and in more ways than one! Of course we all know about the gas and its detrimental effect on the environment through global warming, but if you’ve been following the roller coaster ride of the NZ craft beer scene of late - you will also be aware that the cost of CO2 has recently gone through the roof. This is bad news for brewers who use bottled CO2 in many ways; for pneumatic processing (forcing liquids from A to B), to force carbonate beers and also as a preservative (or rather as...