How long have you been working at Malty?
“Two years, actually, two and a half years now.”
How long have you been involved in the hospitality industry?
“I’ve been working since I was 15, 14. My mum has a couple of pubs back home. She bought them back when I was in school and I worked through there as a dish washer, pot washer just after school. Back home is Canterbury in Kent. A nice little fairy tale village just outside Canterbury – countryside, beautiful valley, it is just very pretty.”
Did those English pubs have cool English pub names? [3]
“Yes they did. There was the Duke of Cumberland, and then the second one was the Jack Door, and then we got another one which is called The Gatekeeper. The Duke of Cumberland has a Culloden room, for the Battle of Culloden, and the Jacobite Rooms.” [4]
Why Malthouse?
“I came over to Wellington to see my sister who worked over the road at Library. Her boyfriend Freddy worked here and I got the job through him. I just needed a job really – I did not know anything about beer. I came in to see to Freddy and thought ‘this is a cool little bar’ and had a little interview with Colin out in the lounge.
Looking around the taps I was a little clueless. I’d dealt with beer before but not to that extent. I knew how to pull a pint but not really how to talk about it. It is a challenge but it is a cool place to work and has a great reputation.”
Why stay at Malty?
“It’s just for loving it so much. Every day you are learning something new about the thing that you are selling. It is just really interesting and you get all these people in here who are just really interested in what is on tap and what is in the fridges. You are kind of learning with them at the same time. It’s cool.”
What would be your three “desert island beers”?
“The Good George Kiwi Sour would be one of them – that is one of my favourite beers. It is on so easy and refreshing – I reckon on a desert island that would be quite nice. Then an English beer – probably a nice real ale like Spitfire. It might be a bit hard to drink on a desert island though. Then maybe a ParrotDog Riwaka Secret, a nice hoppy one. Good George Kiwi Sour is one of my favourite beers of the last few years.” [5]
What are the worst things a customer can do in a bar?
“In general, tap on the bar trying to get your attention, waving things around. Maybe not listening when they ask you a question about the beer, you are telling them about it and they just cut you off. That is kind of annoying. It just grinds my gears. [6] Those are the main two.”
What are your plans going forward?
“I’m not sure really. I have started working at the Fork & Brewer a little more. I’m split between the two bars which are really different. I like it there, the tap line up is really amazing. It has a different crowd, more restaurant focussed but really busy all the time. Maybe working there more and still working here. I like it here and just got sponsored by Malthouse [for a visa]. So I get to stay which is cool!”
What are two beers on tap right now that people should try?
“We have that Beavertown Saint Clements Phantom which is like a weird sour and tastes like bitter lemon or bitter lemonade. It is really easy going, 5%, just drinks really easy. I also like Epic and Hop Federation’s Sarah IPA. That is always a good one. It is just wonderfully balanced, simple beer.”
It was a incredibly focussed interview and 81 minutes shorter than the first interview with the loquacious Irishman Ciaran Duffy.
Next time, we drink to self-proclaimed paragons of plain speaking who publicly slander an entire profession and then hide behind a footnote. [7]
[1] OK – I have a beer or two and the staff are utmost professionals. This time I had a House of Nicholas Sarah IPA. That was because Epic Hop Zombie seems to have my number in the last month…
[2] It took around ten minutes.
[3] I’m already making space in my trophy cabinet for a Pulitzer Prize.
[4] This got a little awkward as my ancestors changed sides in the middle of this particular battle and as a result are buried in the centre of the battlefield as neither the winning English nor losing Scots wanted anything to do with them.
[5] There was some disagreement between the interviewer and interviewee over the merit (or otherwise) of sour beers. The full transcript will be released as part of the Director’s Cut of this blog in 2017.
[6] Bonus points for a Peter Griffin reference.
[7] “You know who you are.”
Cheers
Neil Miller
Beer Writer
Beer and Brewer Magazine
Cuisine Magazine
TheShout Magazine
New Zealand Liquor News Magazine
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