Boycott DB Brewery
May 1, 2009 11:09 am Brewing, NewZealandIf you had seen Campbell Live last night, or followed the NZ beer and brewing forums you know about DB Brewery’s bulling tactics against Green Man Brewery, a small organic brewery in Dunedin.
Unfortunately a while ago DB successfully claimed ‘Radler’ as a Trademark with the Intellectual Property Office, IPONZ. As many will know, the term ‘radler’ (defined in Wikipedia) is actually a beer style, much like lager, pilsner, or IPA. However, having wrongly claimed the trademark (and IPONZ are to blame here), they also wrongly defended use of their trademark against Green Man’s Radler beer and forced the company, after a short fight due to the costs involved to Green Man, to re-label their product to ‘Cyclist’. DB also have tried to register other beer styles as trademarks to mixed successes.
Fortunately a renowned law firm are getting involved on a pro-bono basis to fight the case, James and Wells, as announced recently, helping the cause of both Green Man Brewery and SOBA (Society of Beer Advocates). Other local businesses likes Rumbles are getting on board.
Now you can too! Here’s how – Simply boycott all DB products – Tiger, Heineken, Amstel, Tui, Export Gold, Monteiths and Budvar. It’s that simple. Help support the NZ craft beer industry by buying NZ craft beer, a set of great brewerys brewing for the love of beer, the availability of great beer, and the choice and freedom of all recognized beer styles.
May 1st, 2009 at 11:19 am
Yeesh. It’s just beer.
May 1st, 2009 at 11:26 am
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” -Benjamin Franklin
May 1st, 2009 at 11:35 am
No problems boycotting DB, and I fully support your justification.
But I am a VB man myself…
May 1st, 2009 at 1:22 pm
A highlight of every visit to the Queenstown/Wanaka region is Cardrona Gold, Brewski and Tall Black. (http://www.wanakabeerworks.co.nz/index.html)
I love these kiwi craft beers and wish I could get them in Australia!
May 1st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
So which beer should we be drinking at next year’s LCA then?
May 1st, 2009 at 2:28 pm
That’s an easy one – Epic, 3 Boys, Tuatara, Renaissance, Founders, Green Man, Yeastie Boys, Emersons, Wanaka Beerworks, Dux de Lux, Moa, Mata, Croucher, Bennetts, Harringtons, Wigram, … Plenty of choice without going to the mainstream beers.
Best place to drink around town would either by Malthouse, D4, or Bar Edward (further out of town) – YMMV 🙂
May 1st, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Wow, thanks, you just gave me a new excuse to have a beer – I’m helping the New Zealand craft beer industry by actively boycotting DB!
*hic*
May 1st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Actually in Germany, “Radler” (which could be translated “Cyclist” but sounds in fact a bit funny) is the term for a mixture of beer and lemonade.
There are probably two reasons why this exists and is popular:
* German tend to sell beer in multiples of 1l so to avoid getting drunk quickly you might consider taking 1l of Radler instead.
* People want to drink beer but still need to be able to drive their car home which means they need to be careful with alcohol.
I guess this couldn’t be trademarked in Germany as it a widely used term 😉
May 1st, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Are Heineken and Amstel made by DB Breweries only in New Zealand?
Boycotting two of the largest Dutch beer brands would be hard to do in the Netherlands. Here Heineken is a brewery itself, responsible for brewingother brands as well.
May 1st, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Boycotting DB isn’t a huge sacrifice! BTW just picked up some Brew Moon beers last week. Their IPA was lovely!
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:21 am
Radler is a drink based on beer and soda and not a beer type … Fruit Beer on the other hand is the style of the Radler.
But anyway .. lots of large breweries misuse their position against the smaller breweries (that in 90% of the cases makes better beers)
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:52 am
Speight’s?
May 2nd, 2009 at 8:12 am
Ciao, I would love to pick up some NZ beer at my shop here in Stockholm, Sweden … not so very likely though, bit I’ll wont be buying any Heneken or Amstel! 😉
Happy brewing!