North Korean Aggression – “Bring me another Pilsner and I’ll tell you how to contain a million-man standing army with only a Greenpeace protest vessel and Lucy Lawless.”
Perpetual Motion Solved – “A cat always lands on its feet, right? And toast always falls to the floor butter side down. So, simply strap buttered toast to the back of a cat and throw it in the air. There is your perpetual motion machine sorted. Mine’s a Tennant’s Lager.”
Super Rugby playoff format – “The TV executives pick who plays and who wins. It is like professional wrestling. I hear WWE’s Vince McMahon owns all the Kiwi franchises. After all, there were wrestlers called The Hurricane, the Blue Meanie, High Chief Peter Maivia, the Loch Ness Monster, [1] and Sir William Regal. That cannot be a coincidence. Another sour fruit conspiracy beer please.”
Donald Trump’s hair – “This may be the APA talking but have you ever thought how bad his head must look that wearing an annoyed ginger cat on his scalp is the best option available for the most powerful man in the world?”
Quade Cooper getting unceremoniously dumped from the Wallabies – “Kiwi Pale Ales all round. No explanation needed.”
Tsunami warning lines on the pavement – “I heard the massive wave stops exactly at the blue line painted on the road because of global warming. It is true – you can look it up on Wikileaks while you buy me another cider.”
Gareth Morgan getting into Parliament – “Sorry, there is literally no beer strong enough to explain that outcome…”
Ten years ago, the Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge was created precisely by a loud opinionated discussion over a humble Malty bar leaner. Unlike the idle or ignorant talk illustrated above, the conversation created the biggest event on the Malthouse calendar and 2017 may well be the largest yet.
I’ve told this story many times before but will tell it again because it has the advantage of being true. [2] Following our return from the World Beer Cup in San Diego, I was enjoying drinks with Luke “the Imp” Nicholas from Epic, Steve “the Naked Epicurean Brewer” Plowman from Hallertau and Colin “the Handsome yet Softly Spoken Proprietor” from Malthouse. [3]
Brewers have strong opinions and Steve and Luke were each of the strong opinion that they could make the best US West Coast inspired Pale Ale in the country. Colin decided to put them to the test with the inaugural WCIPA challenge featuring two beers and a public vote. The first result is lost in history because no one remembered to write it down. Actually, there is some doubt that a vote even happened.
The event continued to grow. By year five there were 17 entrants competing in front of real judges for the fabled yet incredibly cheap Golden Gumboot trophy. This year, on Friday 28 July 2017, the 10th Annual Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge will see a record 28 challengers (including the first international entry) lining up for the ultimate prize. Because of the dramatic growth of the event, it will be co-hosted by Fork & Brewer and Malthouse. Each bar will have 24 Challenge beers, including four exclusive beers at each venue.
It is going to be more fun than the America’s Cup. [4] Once again I have the pleasure of judging the Challenge, meaning I get a head start on the hops.
Here is the final beer list. The alcohol percentages are not being released until the day of the Challenge so I have developed a new ABV Challenge scale: [5]
Mellow (under 6.5%)
Hello (between 6.5% and 7.5%)
Yello! (over 7.5%)
Here are the beers in the order they were sent to me:
Fork Brewing Juice Newton Hello
Epic Beer Hysteria Hello
Liberty The Kush Hello
Moa Cutaway Charlie Hello
Panhead Snake Oil Hello
Emerson’s Fistful of dollars Yello!
Tuatara Hi-Res Hello
Garage Project Unconditional Love Hello
ParrotDog Double IPA Yello!
Fortune Favours The Supernaturalist Hello
8 Wired Lupulust IPA Mellow
Hallertau I Like Your Subwoofer Hello
Hop Federation West Coast IPA Hello
Mac’s Wild Cat IPA Mellow
Rocky Knob One Way Street Yello!
Sprig & Fern Mother of Hops Mellow
Bone Face In Bloom Hello
Croucher Freewheeler IPA Hello
Choice Bros I’m Afraid of Americans Hello
BlackDog Rock & Rolla Hello
Good George Bonniedoon IIPA Yello!
Baylands Bent Crank IPA Hello
Kereru Hop Wave IIPA Yello!
North End Devil’s Elbow Yello!
Behemoth C’s get degrees Hello
Eagle Dawn of the Dust Mellow
Pirate Life Malthouse Challenge Hello
Urbanaut el Segundo IPA Hello
The Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge is the highlight of my beer year, ahead even of my beloved Beervana and Saint Andrews Day. It is going to be huuuuge and many of these unique brews will not last long. Particularly endangered is the now traditional “totally out of balance but I love it so much” hop bomb that misses out on a medal but wins my heart and wallet.
Next time, we drink to Game of Thrones. Finally, we all have something to talk about, even if it is the surprising number of people who claim never to have watched an episode. I am Team Tyrion myself but predicting Arya will ultimately end up with the Iron Throne.
[1] Ironically the wrestler (“Giant Haystacks”) was English. This is a rare example of a wrestling company being dishonest about the nationality of their pugilists.
[2] May not apply to all my stories – check terms and conditions.
[3] Only Steve has not embraced his nickname. Colin pretends not to but secretly adores being described as “handsome”. Just not by me for some reason…
[4] This is admittedly setting the bar particularly low, unless you are millionaire who enjoys getting millions of dollars more from the Government for pursuing your hobby in the tropics.
[5] Only after finishing the list have I realised that the ABV scale was inspired by a rather awful rap by Jayden Smith on the Graham Norton Show. Wait, “rather awful rap by Jayden Smith” is a case study of redundancy.
Cheers
Neil Miller
Beer Writer
Beer and Brewer Magazine
Cuisine Magazine
TheShout Magazine
DrinksBiz Magazine
Links
10th Annual West Coast IPA Challenge Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/events/375675949500881/
Malthouse Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/Malthouse/7084276173
Malthouse Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/malthouse
Malthouse Taps on Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/MalthouseTaps
Neil Miller on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/#!/beerlytweeting