RealBeer.co.nz - Buyers Guide to Craft Beer in New Zealand

[nzbrewer]

In an effort to help retailers in New Zealand to purchase a good selection of craft beers I am working on the document below. Would love to have any suggestions or input. Once it has been polished it will be released to the Liquor Trade.

Why do this? recently I have had a number of bars bitching at me about some "craft beers" they have stocked which people try once and hate on, then they have to try and sell the rest of it out. This also has the effect on new and potential craft beer drinkers not adventuring outside their comfort zone again because they got burned.

So hook in to it I want to see your comments. If first time craft beer drinkers have an awesome experience every time, they will buy again, and there will be more demand for more craft beer.

Cheers
Luke

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RealBeer.co.nz
Presents

Buyers Guide
Craft Beer of New Zealand

Craft Beer made in New Zealand has all of a sudden become very interesting and many bar owners and liquor retailers are looking at providing a selection of what is available.

With 50 small breweries in New Zealand, and many making on average 5 beers each, this means there are potentially 250 beers you could add to your fridge. In most cases you will not have room for more then 6 or 12 new beers.

Here are some quick tips to getting a quality selection, and avoiding making a bad choice?

1. Award Winning Beers
Keep it simple. Stick with beers that have won awards. See www.brewnz.co.nz for latest results. So much choice, so little fridge space. (you need to note that of the 200+ entries from the Beer Awards only a third are worthy of medals, hence there are some problematic and poor quality beers out there)

2. Reputation for Quality
Sometimes you might be wiser to actually look at beers that have a consistent record of winning awards, or looking at the track record of a brewery and its ability to win awards for all its beers. Some brewers may get lucky once and ride on that win for 17 years.

3. Beers of Interest
Many craft breweries are make seasonal specials and interesting beers. Watch out for barrel aged beers, sour beers, fruit beers, and other strange ingredients. This definitely creates interest, trial and discussion about the diversity of beer.

4. Change is Good
To keep your customers interested and to always be fine tuning your selection, a good practice is to drop a couple of your slower moving beers and to try out a couple of new one. You might end up stocking your new biggest seller.

5. Support Your Local Brewery
Fresh beer is the best. Your local brewery is only going to prosper and improve their quality and selection with your support.

[Tony]

Yes I agree with you, in part Andrew. As you can see with Ian's argument, that is not always feasible, only if you have draught beers. The other side of the argument and the point that I was trying to make, is that it is the job of the bar staff to know their product. If someone walks into your establishment and asks 'what can you recommend?', then the said barstaff, should be able to supply a reasonably educated answer. At the very least, they should be able to ask the punter, what do you normally drink and from that make an informed decision. How many barstaff know the difference between an ale and a lager, for example? (besides the taste that is). How many know the difference between a mass produced beer and a micro-brewed beer? All this information is public knowledge and yet the people in the industry, often know less than the punter.

I don't expect everyone to be a beer geek, but a reasonable understanding should be expected. Then again, you just don't know how many staff will actually take up the baton and become a beer connoisseur?

[nzbrewer]

I found myself in an interesting situation at Suite bar last month where we did a blind tasting of Lagers. The bar staff were impressed that I was able to name most of the beers and the breweries that we tasted. It was an eye opener for them as they are very good with wine and spirits by beer gets forgotten. I would be impressed if many bar tenders in this country could name 5 or 6 beers from their fridges if tasted blind.

Why are they not tasting these beers on a regular basis so they know what they are selling?

[Andrew]

Why are they not tasting these beers on a regular basis so they know what they are selling?

Could be partly due to the mass blanket marketing by the biggies of their products - with the consequence that bars / staff feel that the product is already 'sold' and all they are there to do is dispence the stuff. i.e. they are just not used to having to push the product - and partly because the mass market is so used to being told what they should be drinking via that mass marketing that they don't expect the bar staff to tell them what they should be drinking.(remember that the interested beer geek is a small minority and is a sector of the market we love but do not rely on to keep our breweries afloat)
In reality, it is very easy to sell a different beer to a customer over the bar (as opposed to the supermarket shelf where labels rule). I actually see it as a sort of a sport. And when occassionally I get the "Arrh - Jesus! It tastes like soap water!!" - I just congratulate the customer on the fact that they can taste - and it dosn't takre too long to bring them around.
But yes - it is important that the staff know what they are selling and we freely encourage them to try all of our products - regularly!