Epic Beer

There is still a chance for you to win a case of 12 x 500ml bottles of Epic Armageddon IPA. Submit a photo via flickr.com and tweet it #42DaysofEpicArmageddonIPA and be in for a chance to win.

Two more chance to win a case, and also the chance to win the grand prize of 42 bottles of Epic Armageddon IPA.

More details http://42.epicbeer.com

Selling beer at the equivalent price of a serviceable bottle of discount wine during a recession has proved surprisingly easy for an Auckland craft brewer.

Three-year-old Epic Beer has enjoyed 200 per cent growth over the past year after similar growth the year before. The company ranks within the top five craft labels in the country by size but compared with the big breweries it is tiny.

Founder Luke Nicholas says the recession had proved positive in spite of his beer selling for between $6 and $7 for a 500ml bottle.

While people were cautious about making big purchases of cars and furniture, those who had not lost jobs still had money.

'They were thinking, 'Let's go and buy something better than we normally buy."'

This resulted in a surge in demand he struggled to cope with in winter.

"I was completely behind the eight ball."

Nicholas is a commerce graduate and says a hobby became a business when he started working for a web-linked United States brewery realbeer.com between 1999 and 2001.

He said it was an idea ahead of its time and became a victim of the dotcom crash, however he is optimistic the connections he made in the US will pay off for Epic, which grew out of the Cock and Bull pub chain here.

In the first half of this year Nicholas will start exporting by the pallet-load to the US, selling through niche bottle shops, avoiding big chains.

"I'm not out there to take on Budweiser or anything because it's top end. If they wanted a container every week then that would be an issue."

There were now about 50 craft brewers in New Zealand and numbers are growing against a fall in beer sales of 4 to 5 per cent suffered by DB in the year to September.

Nicholas said he would not follow large global brewers which are trying to get drinkers on to low carbohydrate, or mid-strength beers.

"I kind of know what they're saying but their messages are very similar. They're giving the consumer warm fuzzies about 'if I drink this beer it's healthy for me'."

Epic's Armageddon beer has an alcohol content of 6.66 per cent and all lines are promoted and have won awards for their strong hop flavours.

The company also wants to expand in Australia and to Europe.

NZ Herald Article Link

If there was ever any doubt about the magic power of beer, look no further. Matching the right beer with your food can really bring out the best in the meal but can the beer men even apply this to a good old Aussie dinner of fish & chips?

BeerMen.TV

Well I was hoping this was going to be way more straight forward but all of the entries have been really good. I was also hoping I could get it down to just one winner this week (yes that was last Friday, hope to do better this week), but four winners was the best I could.

Loving the photoshop - 'The Pursuit of Hoppyness' and our first Australian winner.

I have started a photo gallery of the entries and will place all entries there so you can see what you are up against. The standard keeps on increasing, in the gallery there are a couple of non-Armageddon photos but they are worthy of a mention.

Epic Antarctica and Last Epic Supper both very cool.

There was also a video submitted this week and will try and get this upload too.

Good luck for this coming week.

More details at http://42.epicbeer.com

So for the first week of "42 Days of Epic Armageddon IPA" I have decided it is a draw/tie between "Lager Kr3w" and and "Going to jail"

Both awesome and amazing shots that really wowed me. Congratulations.

I look forward to the coming week when more people are back at work and have some time to drink a beer and take a photo, and tweet it.

Both submitters will get a case of Epic Armageddon IPA for their efforts.

If you think you can do better then lets see it.

Odds seem to be pretty good to get a case of Armageddon. Based on this week it would look like less than 1 in 10 chance of winning. I like those odds. And the time it takes to take a photo, upload it and tweet it with a hashtag? what do you have to lose? a few minute of your life and $10-$15 worth of beer (Epic Armageddon IPA) which you are going to drink anyway.

This competition is open to anyone, photoshop is allowed, no holds barred. Bring it.

(can you guys DM me with a delivery address so I can send you a case of Epic Armageddon IPA each)

http://42.epicbeer.com