Beervarna: Electric Kool Aid for the masses.
Ahh, Beervarna.
I love it. I tend to have this recurring feeling the day after that I have just participated in some form of group hallucination fueled by a pharmacopeia of malt, hops and banter. And I’m just a wallflower; the dosage could well be much stronger for those putting themselves and their wares out there to the thirsty mobs.
Living in a kind of splendid provincial isolation of late, I felt like I needed to make up for it on the Friday. Emersons JP, Twisted Hop IPA, Tuatara APA, Regional’s RSB, Her Majesty, 8 wired the big hangi!, or drinking one of the many Jo (another night another brewery) Woods beers seasoned throughout the town hall.
In truth, I could wax about all the great beers, but that’s what I was expecting, all the way from the Twisted Hop Goldings to the Rogue XS Stout. In fact I enjoyed just as much if not more the social conviviality, meeting other real beer homebrew geeks, serving glass after glass after glass of ginger beer to the same people, having Jed Soane talk me through the utility of twitter, the therapeutic feel of pulling on a beer engine all day and night.
And it was one in the eye for the anti-alcohol lobby. As Nick Page (pursuit of hoppiness editor) pointed out to me, here were hundreds of people crammed in a space drinking lots of beer, much of which was high abv% and I didn’t see any trouble. From what I could gather the bulk of the patrons weren’t beer geeks either, and, refreshingly, they weren’t there to pay homage to the (ahem) Champion Brewer, DB.
Running through the list of judges, and chatting to some of them myself I’m sure that their credentials and credibility is not in doubt. It does appear to be merely a quirk of the different style categories that cater quite well to the brewing behemoths. I’m not expecting
to see anytime soon an Epic Low carb beer or Yeastie boys NZ draught (I think
they’d make a good one if they did, even if the gesture would be perhaps tounge
and cheek). It does send a curious message and a slightly blinkered one at
that. As it was pointed out to me, and apparent to many others, the true innovators and leaders in NZ brewing are the smaller players and in many cases, I’m proud to acknowledge, are homebrewers!
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Comment by JoKing on August 30, 2010 at 12:34pm
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It didn't last long enough. It was great to chat with you - as well as the other realbeerers. I could wax on for hours too... but I guess it's one of those things that need to attend and take in at the time. It's like Vegas.
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Actually - coming to think about it... I got pretty damned sick of beer! It was meeting new people, chatting to the others who I only ever get to see once a year (at these events none the less) as well as catching up with friends... all in a couple days.... that's what makes it so great for me.
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Comment by Hugh Grierson on August 30, 2010 at 1:37pm
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I think the venue and organisation helped keep the munt factor down, limited session times is a great idea also. Handsome Sam Dogfish was really entertaining,and interesting, top marks for whoever organised that (LUKE?).
I also found heaps of new brewers, eg, Townsend and Arrow who had great range of very excellent brews...
Next time I am taking a spare T shirt though, because of my drinking problem (missing my mouth).
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Comment by Stu McKinlay on August 30, 2010 at 1:56pm
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One of our versions of what NZ Draught could be (if it tried) is on handpump at Bar Edward and Hashigo Zake now... will be out to other places in the next few weeks. I had three very complimentary texts from three of my most admired brewers, all of whom tried it at Hashigo yesterday... pretty chuffed considering it was brewed less than two weeks ago. I had one at Bar Edward and it was tasting great out there too. One batch only so enjoy it while it lasts.
Always fun but always so busy and so little time to catch up with people (it's like your own wedding!). I really hope the Brewer's Guild keep it small and relatively intimate as it is now. The 4 hour session is, without a doubt, one of the things that make it so successful. I thought it was a good step up in comparison to last year.
For those of you who missed out on the post-Beervana conga... it's so much better, and more inclusive, than air guitar... next year we need to get one going in Beervana!
Cheers
Stu
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Comment by Bambule on August 30, 2010 at 2:33pm
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>One of our versions of what NZ Draught could be (if it tried) is on handpump at Bar Edward and Hashigo Zake now...
That's great! Punkadiddle. Isn't that a Mike Oldfield song lashing out at punk music circa 1979.... Is this Yeastie Boys lashing out at big hoppy beers, or am I just being a trainspotter?
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you're right on... it'll be a while before you see another hoppy seasonal tap beer from us. His Majesty and PKB Remix (US hopped, along the lines of my first homebrew) will be hoppy but will both be 750ml bottles... the next few tap/handpump releases are all celebrations of how much we love yeast and malt.
In saying that, the hop flavour of Punkadiddle is one of my favourites... East Kent Golding - it's got character that reminds me of a good cup of tea.
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