Brewaucracy

Evangelistic brother / Should be banging a tambourine
Go wash your hands and fingers / Until your mind is clean

Now, it might be more than a little naff to begin a blog post by quoting Tears for Fears, but I caught a snatch of Mr Pessimist the other day, and that couplet connected with the theme that’s been haunting my thoughts, while floating elusively out of my mental reach.

The jigsaw assembled itself properly while I was visiting Melbourne for Good Beer Week. Experiencing the pride and excitement the Australians have for their beers and brewers, feeling the camaraderie, and seeing the queues out the door of notable craft beer venues were uplifting things to behold. There was a dramatic contrast between this joy of spirit, and the feeling I’d had on leaving New Zealand, where the last thing I’d done is catch up on the forums on Realbeer. I shouldn’t have done that.

What is it about we Kiwis that causes us to be constantly sniping, looking for holes, and generally being sad sacks about things? I’ve heard it described as “tall poppy syndrome”, but I’ve seen it expressed as dislike of any new idea from any source, even more diminutive members of the family Papaveraceae.

We have such a lively and creative beer scene here in New Zealand. With every chance we get, we should be banging that tambourine. After all, every time we convince another person to drink flavourful craft beer, made right here in New Zealand, that’s one more little bit of demand in the market which helps to ensure more great beer for us to enjoy.

I’m not trying to say we should all be “fake”. Constructive criticism is encouraged almost everywhere. Nobody can fix a problem if they are not aware they have one. Also, there are some things about which it’s just not possible to have anything but a sense of withering disdain. Neither am I claiming to be blameless here. I’ve certainly been guilty of having a dig when it would have been just as easy, and far more productive to be positive. What I am suggesting is that we try harder. Don’t assume there’s a dark motive behind a new release. Give the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming the worst. Don’t pour scorn just to sound aloof or cool. Passion is cool. Get passionate!

It’s time for me to stop being the “evangelistic brother” now, but I’ll finish up by saying we have an amazing beer scene. Get amongst it. Celebrate it. Hug a brewer, a barman, a fellow drinker, and just feel lucky. It might be contagious!

*UPDATE*

In case it seems that way, this is NOT an “Australia is better than us” post. I loved the little I’ve seen of Australia, but I also love NZ dearly. The GBW experience was simply a catalyst for something that’s been bugging me for quite some time. Right. As you were.

Oh no, not again. Look, I want so badly to write something positive about DB. I’ve said time and time again that I don’t care who makes good beer, so long as it IS good beer. I’d heard exciting things about Single Source – a beer from DB that talked about malt and hops as real ingredients, with individual flavours, and a story to tell. But then, I heard the marketing spin.

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DB are the champion brewer of NZ for 2010. It’s official.

You’re all waiting for my long and angry rant now, aren’t you? Go on, admit it. It’s OK, if you’d been around when I heard the news (as several good friends were – apologies to Jamie, Phil, Kieran, Graeme and others) you’d have got one. However, I’ve chilled out, relaxed, and hell, a part of me is even pleased about that result.

Why? Well, first, let’s address the result itself.

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One of the most refreshing aspects about craft beer for me is the lack of … there’s no polite way to say it … marketing bullshit. I’ve never heard a craft brewer claim their beer was “brewed 33% longer”, or any such ludicrous statement. I’ve always taken it as a sign that craft brewers think their market is too smart to fall for that silliness. Craft brewers, in general, simply describe their beer, the ingredients from which it was made, and some of the flavours one might expect to taste upon drinking it.

Until now.

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Last night, I had the pleasure of being “the beer team” in a beer versus wine food matching debate/experience at House in Hamilton. I had the greater pleasure of winning that debate, despite an excellent (and extremely gracious) battle with “the wine team” – Dan Thursby from Hamilton Wine Company.

This was no mean feat, for several reasons. I’ll leave singing my own praises right out of this. I’m not the best public speaker in the world, so I can’t claim I swayed the audience with my shining wit. In fact, if anything, Dan was in fine form, and should perhaps have won on pure debating points alone. He does this sort of thing a lot though, whereas I’m usually limited to rowdy and unwelcome interjections from the sidelines, so I guess he had an edge there. He also claimed the room was stacked with beer friendly people. I felt the opposite was true! Several people I knew as avowed beer drinkers (and close friends) were voting honestly, occasionally putting wine as their preferred match – to my horror! Still, everyone is allowed to be wrong sometimes… I feel that 90% of people present (myself included) voted honestly and without bias. I genuinely believe that beer is a much better match with food than wine, and this proved that point for me because… well… I should have lost.

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SOBA has been trucking along without my involvement (other than the odd press comment, and buttinski-type annoying input) for nearly a year. It has grown and flourished under a new committee made up of some great people, old hands and newcomers alike. The man with whom all bucks must inevitably stop,  Geoff Griggs, and his executive right and left hands Ian Caig (Secretary – my old job, and no simple task), and Rob Owen (Treasurer) are bringing order and stability to the daily function of SOBA administration.

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“I don’t get this campaign. Are we really that interested in beer classification?” — Phil Parkin on CAMRA’s Mild Month (via Twitter).

Before people think I have my own little Phil-worship cult going on here, I’d like to point out that while yes, the last post was entirely dedicated to his film, this one was merely triggered by something he said on twitter which tweaked my cerebellum. He doesn’t pay me, I swear! Plus, I doubt both the readers of this blog will be much of a market for him.

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