SOBA Summary - The last regular one for a while!

Hi SOBA people,

I'm finding it a bit tricky to round up enough news each week to keep these posts as informative and interesting as they can be, so I'm going to move to just posting regular news items as they come to hand in the News section. Those of you who have subscribed to the RSS feed on the news section will never miss a post! Please keep news coming in, and I'll keep posting it.

News of the SOBA HomeBrewFest is getting around. I came across this post on eventfinder.co.nz. It's going to be a great time, so get your tickets now! There are some very talented brewers providing beers that you won't ever find anywhere else, so you won't want to miss this. If you are not a homebrewer, and simply love a good pint, it will be well worth going to try some of these beers which will dispel any myths you might have about how bad "homebrew" is. This is real beer, ladies and gentlemen, and at a great price!

Ian in Wellington tells me that there is a new pub coming soon. While it's a DB venture, with the giant brewery taking a 50% stake, it will include a "Boutique Brewery", so this could be one to watch. Here's the extract from the Dominion Post:

WATERING HOLE FOR RUGBY FANS

Wellington rugby fans will soon have their own official watering hole with a multi million dollar pub set to open off Courtney Place in the New Year.

The Temperance Bar will become Wellington’s home of rugby in a deal between Wellington Rugby Union, sponsor Dominion Breweries and publican Andrew Gibson.

The building – once the site of the Temperance Society Hotel – will house a boutique brewery, restaurant, night club and a top floor members lounge. It will stretch between Blair Street and Cambridge Terrace in what will be the biggest pub in the country.

It will be half owned by DB and Mr Gibson, who said yesterday the pub would be like nothing else in NZ. The three storey building would be capable of holding 1900 patrons.

“it looks a bit like a shopping mall with different levels” he said. “It’s over 90m long and it will cost over $4 million to fit out. It’s four bars in one really, with the brewery, an eatery, and the nightclub, lounge on the top floor, which will be home of rugby in Wellington”.

DB has invested heavily in the project, buying intellectual property right to Wellington and Hurricanes logos, banners and merchandise. It has renewed its sponsorship of the union until 2012.

An opening date for the Temperance has not been set, but rugby fans should be able to quench their thirst at the pub by the time the Wellington Sevens hits town in February.

Wellington rugby’s 11,000 season ticket holders will have discounted beer and food, and a free match shuttle to and from the Westpac stadium.

Hurricanes and Wellington players will attend the members lounge after every match and entry to the 450 capacity area will be on a first-in, first-served basis.

In other "big brewery" news, brewing giants InBev have just launched a new website for Stella Artois. It's remarkably educational, talking about the origins of the brewery, the fact that they didn't always brew golden lagers (although they do obviously hold that style up as the holy grail of beer), and the history of brewing itself. It's all delivered impeccably as an interactive movie, and contains much wry humour. It's well worth checking out, even if you're not a fan of beers from the big boys. It's great to see a giant brewery promoting their beer in an educational and funny way rather than the usual tired appeals to machismo. Well done InBev.

For those not already "in the know", the realbeer.co.nz website is undergoing a beta test of it's new version.  Luke is tweaking and testing, so doesn't want it made TOO public, but those of you who frequent the existing realbeer.co.nz forums will have the new address, and those who don't now know which site to limit their google query to!

Those of you whose memberships are due for renewal, I apologise that I've not been keeping up with invoicing. I should have caught up on the last couple of months by the end of this one, and will get new cards out as soon as payment is received. 

That's about all for this week. Remember to subscribe to the news section via the RSS feed for all future updates. If you have any questions, I'm always happy to help - secretary@soba.org.nz.

Stay SOBA!

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Greig McGill
Secretary
Society of Beer Advocates (SOBA) Inc.