By James Atkinson
Beervana gets underway today in Wellington, but there will be no bar dedicated to Australian craft breweries after a shipping fiasco left their beers stranded in Melbourne.
One hundred kegs of Australian craft beers, including Mega Mega White Thing – TheShout’s collaboration with Young Henrys – were aboard a stricken ship that was forced to turn back to Melbourne earlier this month.
The cargo, which comprised 27 different SKUs, was supposed to be transferred onto another vessel but that plan went awry due to an internal communication blunder at the freight company. [continues below]
L-R Tiffany Waldron, Brendan O'Sullivan, Kendall Martin and Sam Fuss at Beervana's inaugural trade show
Frustrated Beervana director David Cryer, of Cryer Malt, told TheShout that he has never encountered a logistics problem of this magnitude in a lifetime of overseeing trans-Tasman shipments.
He is hoping to make it up to the Australian brewers, possibly with an Australian tap takeover on a grand scale when the beers finally make it across to New Zealand.
“I’m not going to let these guys down,” he said.
L-R: Kegstar's Adam Trippe-Smith and Joe Cook at yesterday's trade show
However, the Australian brewers in Wellington were sanguine about the affair, and the Beervana punters are unlikely to go thirsty.
“We apologise and hope you understand the beer gods were not on our side for this one,” Beervana said in a statement.
“On the bright side, there are still over 200 amazing beers for you to enjoy.”
The episode means the only Australian beers at the event will be from James Squire, Little Creatures, Mountain Goat and Stone & Wood.
There is also a strictly limited quantity of The Digger, a beer brewed at Green Beacon in Brisbane by beer writer Matt Kirkegaard, which he couriered over personally in a 10-litre keg.
Beervana gets underway today at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.