Experts' breakfast beer worry

It's nicknamed the "breakfast beer" but alcohol watchdogs are hoping a new New Zealand brew to be launched early on a weekday morning is nothing but a fizzer. The cherry-flavored, wheat lager by Marlborough brewery Moa is described as "a beer the ladies can enjoy too ... if you're having a champagne breakfast but don't fancy champagne, have a beer instead".

It contains 5.5 per cent alcohol and will be launched at Auckland's Quay Street Cafe this Thursday at 7am. Alcohol Healthwatch adviser Christine Rogan said drinking in the morning was an indicator of an alcohol problem.

National manager of Students Against Drunk Driving Anna Reid was concerned people would be leaving a "boozy breakfast" at a time when children were going to school and people were going to work.

Moa co-owner Geoff Ross said his company wasn't targeting alcoholics, nor was it trying to create irresponsible behavior. "Look at cultures like Germany where a lager in the right circumstances is part of the culture, or Italy where the grappa is used as a morning pick-me-up. Cultures around the world consume alcohol in the right way, and that includes breakfast."