I was recently reminded about the story of how a famous beer writer responded to a member of the public adamant they did not like beer.  Now, have heard this story several times from various beer luminaries and, like many tales relating to beer, the details tend to vary greatly depending on who is telling it.

Workplaces around the globe are covered with “motivational” posters and “inspiring” quotes.  I particularly loathe the ones about the alleged badness of Mondays, how it helps to be crazy to work somewhere and that stupid cat “hanging in there.” 

There are many things in this world which seem inexplicably popular to me.  The list includes, but is not limited to, ham and pineapple pizza, Shortland Street, Dux de Lux Ginger Tom, Mike King, Hamilton, Chris Laidlaw, Ellen DeGeneres and chocolate.

One of the first challenges for any fledgling brewery is the key issue of choosing a name.  In most instances, that name will stay with them forever and will be the cornerstone of their labelling, publicity and marketing.

With its spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties, fruited plains and shining seas, America is probably the most polarising countries in modern history. 

The eternal Horror Monster Hierarchy is pretty clear.  At the top are vampires, dragons, werewolves and trolls, though the coolness of both vampires and werewolves has been negatively impacted by the execrable Twilight series.  A second tranche has the Loch Ness Monster, the big orcs, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and zombies.