London calling
Brits loving Kiwi beer
When you are in the middle of a chilly UK winter and dreaming of a New Zealand summer, the thought of some sunshine in the form of a Kiwi craft beer or two is very much front of mind.
AKiwi-owned business on the other side of the world is flying the flag for New Zealand-brewed craft beers.
Speciality shop Hop Burns & Black, is run by two expat entrepreneurs, former Auckland PR Jen Ferguson and radio breakfast presenter Glenn Williams, on a street in South London.
It’s a small, local shop in the British capital. But their quirky idea to combine the three things they love in one business venture beer (hop), hot sauces (burns) and records (black), has taken off and has already won a string of awards.
And Ferguson and Williams are now proud to be in the vanguard of a movement to make quality, Kiwi craft beers as famous and sought after in the UK and Europe as New Zealand wines.
Ferguson said Hop Burns & Black (HB&B), started with a mission to stock the UK’s best selection of New Zealand craft beer, and the business plans to expand with another store in London in 2017.
‘‘We have the world’s greatest obsessions in one place – beer, hot sauce and records, but with a definite focus on the beer,’’ Ferguson says. ‘‘We’ve always known New Zealand breweries made some of the best beer in the world, and now the world is catching up. The Kiwi craft beer scene is now viewed with huge regard over here.
‘‘And when you’re in the middle of a chilly UK winter and dreaming of a New Zealand summer, the thought of some sunshine in the form of a Kiwi craft beer or two is very much front of mind.
‘‘But at the same time we are a local shop in the heart of a community, where there are a lot of 30 and 40-something residents with young families who enjoy the interest of tasting beers from around the world.’’
The success of the shop has been built on combining a traditional bricks and mortar shop with a digital, online service, which allows orders to be placed from back home and around the world.
The shop’s beer selection is mind-boggling. Apart from stocking what they claim is the UK’s best and biggest selection of Kiwi brews, HB&B stocks more than 350 craft beers from the UK, Australia, Europe and the US, as well as wine, cider and some of the world’s 100-plus best hot sauces.
HB&B is both a shop and tasting room, showcasing bottled and canned beers, as well as fresh draught beer from a flagon-filling station. While not a fully-fledged pub, limited seating is available for thirsty beer lovers who’re keen to kick back with a drink or revel in their latest purchase.
It also claims to have London’s best selection of hot sauces, and a small collection of new and vintage vinyl, as well as craft ciders, meads and classic, organic and biodynamic wines.
Since they established themselves in the London suburb of East Dulwich, the accolades have been pouring in for the concept shop.
They include being named London Retailer of the Year in this year’s Celebrate British Beer Awards, Time Out’s third most loved London Shop in 2015 and a listing in The Guardian’s Top 10 South London Craft Beer Pubs.
Williams says HB&B is currently making sure the shelves are groaning with New Zealand brews and other products ‘in anticipation of a boomer Kiwi Christmas’. ‘‘We’ve just taken delivery of a super-fresh New Zealand beer shipment, so if you’re back in Kiwiland, that’s your ex-pat Christmas gifts sorted.
‘‘For our customers here in the UK, they are noticing the consistency and quality of new Zealand beer. New Zealand has always punched above its weight in brewing thanks to top quality hops and water supplies.’’
Backing them all the way is the New Zealand Beer Collective, which was set up to promote Kiwi beers in the UK and beyond. The organisation began when 8 Wired Brewing, Renaissance, Three Boys Brewery, Tuatara and Yeastie Boys decided to share container space to export their beers to the UK. The first shipment arrived in February 2015.
HB&B stock all of these breweries’ beers and in addition, Ferguson and Williams brought over some of their own favourites including brews from Panhead, Kereru Brewing, Hop Federation, Townshend, Moa and Peckham’s Cider, as well as Parrotdog earlier in the year.
Yeastie Boys founder and NZ beer ambassador, Stu McKinlay has now moved to London and brews Kiwi beer in Scotland using Scottish water and New Zealand hops. This UK-made version of a Kiwi favourite is distributed around the UK and into Europe.
He says: ‘‘We now import beer into the UK with a street value of around $2.5m. The London market has enjoyed significant growth. It is still around four or five years behind New Zealand’s, but there is an excitement about craft beer. People are becoming really interested in the business of it and there has been an explosion of micro-breweries being set up.
‘‘That will move into excitement about making money from this growing trend. New Zealand has one of the very best beer scenes in the world and my move to London is about trying to promote beer so that it can achieve the same status as New Zealand wines.
‘‘We are brewing our tea beer using tea brought in from India through Germany for example.
‘‘As a result, it tastes very similar, but as a brewer I can taste big differences too.
That creates interest but the quality is the same.’’