Reward with respect

The Brewer’s Guild beer awards are an important part of the New Zealand beer industry. They provide brewers and brand owners with the opportunity to have their beers professionally judged against internationally recognised style guidelines. The value of the judging process is evidenced by the calibre of the judges. Those such as Kelly Ryan (Fork Brewing) and Kieran Haslett-Moore (North End Brewing) have some of the finest palates in the country. We also have long serving judges such as Brian Watson (Good George) and Geoff Griggs who, along with others, are regularly invited to contribute their skills in international competitions.

The value of the judging and the feedback it provides is also evidenced by the 908 beers – from 98 different companies – entered this year; almost doubling since 2013. The cider entries took the number of beverages judged to 955. Now cider has its own awards, the number and diversity of entrants has dropped. Medals were awarded but only one gold – for Paynter’s The Huntress which also took home the trophy.

The awards also provide an opportunity for innovators to be recognised. This year, Froth Technologies won the Morton Coutts Trophy. It’s a start-up bringing home-grown liquid yeast to breweries and filling the final gap in New Zealand’s local offerings of the essential ingredients in beer. Industry stalwarts were also recognised, with our own “rat pack” taking honours this year. A big congratulations to Watson and Dave Nicholls (Moa), along with Ralph Bungard (Three Boys) and Tracy Banner (Sprig and Fern). The Guild also recognised the hard mahi contributed by Jonathan Alves (DB) – it’s outgoing president.

The current president, Joe Wood, was also recognised by the judges. Liberty Brewing had the competition of their lives, taking out Champion New Zealand Exhibitor, Champion Medium Size Brewery, and a swag of trophies and medals. Given the serious competition in the medium size brewery space, the husband and wife team of Joe and Christina Woods, and the rest of the Liberty family, can be rightfully proud. Wood confessed to a small cry when Liberty’s name was announced as champion exhibitor. Tears of happiness. A happiness shared by everyone who knows the Woods.

Fork Brewing showed the skill and consistency of head brewer Ryan, and their contracting breweries, Hallertau and Boneface, winning Champion Small Brewery for the second year in a row. Fork has chosen to work with two specifically chosen breweries for their contract product – playing to those brewery’s strengths. Ryan remains closely involved in the process. It’s working for them. Whatever Lion is doing is working as well. They took the Large Champion Brewery title, also for the second year running, and it is hard to see how they might ever lose it unless something dramatically changes. The same might be said for Steam Brewing taking Champion Manufacturing Brewer. Head brewer Shane Morley runs a tight, professional crew producing the best of contract brand beers.

The sheer number of entrants, and consequential medals, along with the tension that builds across the industry and community in the lead-up makes the awards ceremony a challenge for the Guild. This is especially the case in small place like Wellington, that offers limited choice by way of a suitable venue. The cost of Te Papa this year seemed to result in both the food and the beers on offer being comprised as the Guild sought to break even on the event. The place is not cheap.

Overall, there was a lack of filling and fulfilling food for an event that included free booze all night. The “entrée” of bread and dips came on platters presented in the foyer upon arrival. Attendees didn’t seem to know this the first course and many would not have seen the food as the platters were not well circulated around the 500 people mingling at the start. The staffs’ inability to tell you what beer you were being offered was also a feature upon arrival.

All reports received on the main meals described the meat offerings as “delicious” but they were served without any substantive accompaniments. The vegetarian dish was ill-conceived and poorly executed. A slab of unseasoned tofu was deep fried hours before being served. It was bland, rubbery and oily. It shouldn’t have been served at all and the Guild should be asking for a refund on those meals. The venue also seemed to confuse dessert with a cheese course. A small plate of un-interesting and unripe cheese was not dessert and nowhere near enough for a table of 10.

The Guild had no choice but to use the Te Papa caterers and the caterers seem to know it. The caterers seemed to put in minimal effort for maximum profit – the Garage Project Hāpi Festival suffered the same using them earlier this year.

What the Guild did have a choice about was the beer on offer throughout the event. As per usual, there was a bucket gracing the centre of each table. There were some gems, but the bulk of the offering across the tables were New Zealand draught and lager styles. Lion Brown (a bronze medal winner) and Double Brown (no medal) cans were a feature, along with Wild Buck (bronze). There was Ranfurly (bonze) and Waikato Draught (bronze), and Export Citrus (no medal). The sheer number of these beers outweighed the other offerings and did not showcase the best, nor the diversity, of what the industry has to offer. There were also numerous riggers of scrumpy – only one of which medalled this year.

When asked about this, the Guild noted “the beer served has, and always will be, the beer and cider that was entered by breweries into the Awards. We don’t exclude or include beers based on any personal preferences or opinions. The people that make those beers are also in the room – and they deserve to be represented just as much as everyone else”. They consider it “would be disrespectful to those industry colleagues to treat their product any differently”.

Not enough food contributed to what has become an unwanted feature of the awards ceremony over recent years. The tension, excitement and booze overwhelms some of the attendees to such a point they lose respect for the event and those delivering it. One brewery team was told off even before the night got well underway. When asked about it, they acknowledged, “the team genuinely love hanging out and enjoying each other’s company and as a result probably get too loud at times. It is however never our intention, and not in our make-up, to be disrespectful to any colleagues in the industry and consider most of them very good friends”. While singled out, they were not alone. The Chair had to call people to attention numerous times throughout the night. There was also some disrespect shown to head judge Tina Panoutsos (from Lion, Australia).

A hash was made of her surname, including by the professional MC who then went on to call her Nana Mouskouri. To her credit, Panoutsos took it on the chin and the Guild noted that she then used the description herself. But it remains somewhat embarrassing and is arguably an example of causal racism – although all will not agree with this interpretation. Other than this, MC Mary Lambie did a solid job throughout the ceremony even where confronted by the ridiculous noise.

One sponsor commented: “The event organisers need a bell or even a siren and clear instructions on being quiet. We need to get respect and empathy back in there, it’s a night of celebration for all not just a few.”

A bell or a siren to control crowds at our industry’s premier event should not be necessary. It’s not high school and attendees shouldn’t behave like children. So, if recent years’ behaviours do not change, sadly, it might be time for the Guild to consider changing the format of the awards. They should certainly be focused on a venue where they can be assured of enough food to soak up the booze. This might signal the end of the awards being able to travel around New Zealand each year and finding a new permanent home in a city that offers the infrastructure needed.

While there were these negatives, the work undertaken to competition rules appears to have been a success – with thanks to Banner and her advisory team who volunteered their hours (along with the judges and stewards). The Guild acknowledged the feedback from last year that, “people did not understand how Champion Awards were calculated or what the Industry Awards were for. We put considerable more context into the script this year.”

The Guild also reported that entries from New Zealand breweries and brands were up 13%, and a huge number of their beers medalled (even if the number of golds decreased slightly). A feature was the increasing growth of breweries across the regions. Taranaki breweries took home a slew of medals and a trophy for Shining Peak, while Sunshine Brewery in Gisborne won a trophy for their East Coast Saison and the likes of Brave Brewing in Hawke’s Bay continued to shine.

The regional South Island may have a wee catching up to do, but it is still worth jumping on board the Beer Tourism Award-winning Brew Bus in the Queenstown and Wanaka region and looking around. There’s lot to taste and great people to visit.