It is an edgy month – Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday nervously co-exist, Saint Patrick’s Day and World Maths Day have little in common to talk about and there is perpetual conflict between Pi Day (which I’m largely ambivalent about) * and Save a Spider Day (which I strongly oppose).

Colin, the Handsome yet Softly Spoken Scottish Malthouse Proprietor, has a plan.  Some might even call it a cunning plan but those people would have to be blissfully unaware that particular running joke ceased being funny about halfway through Black Adder the Third. ** In reality, Colin’s plan involves drastically ramping up the number of activities at Malthouse – all the way up to one every day for the entire month.

Here is the schedule:

Every Monday: Pints for Pets – Donate a tin of pet food and your first tap beer is five dollars.  All the collected food goes directly to the marvellous Wellington SPCA.

Every Tuesday: Pizza and Beer – Before 7pm, any pizza and tap Tuatara beer will be $20.

Every Wednesday: Special Events – A rotating selection of events and tastings.  The full details are below.

Every Thursday: Grape Value – A bottle of house Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or Shiraz *** is $25 between 5pm and 7pm.

Every Friday: Enjoy a free buffet from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.

Every Saturday and Sunday: Imperial Weekend – Receive a “proper pint” of Tuatara tap beer for the price of a standard glass until 7pm.

Every Saturday and Sunday: Tuatara Flagon Fill – Come in and fill up a 2.5 litre Malthouse flagon with Tuatara beer for $20.  Flagons are conveniently available for sale on site for those who do not already own one.

The Wednesday Special Events are:

7pm 2 March: Brewshare – Home brewers of the world unite! **** Bring along up to one litre (total) of your latest brew or brews to share with other home brewers while tucking into endless Malthouse snacks and pizzas. $10.

7:30pm 9 March: Beer Club – This regular monthly trip through the hop vines is hosted by veteran beer scribe Neil McInnes. ***** He will talk people through a tasty selection of beers with expert commentary and snacks.  $25 and advance bookings are essential.

7pm 16 March: Whisky and Haggis Night– Pretty self explanatory really: Whisky plus Haggis.  $40 and advance bookings are essential.

7pm 23 March: Ask the Brewer – Come along and share a pint (or three) with a friendly brewer (or two) who may be able to answer your burning beery questions.  Free.

7:30pm 30 March: Craft Beer 101 – The first instalment of – and I’m not making this up – the education program at Malthouse Beeriversity of Life Wellington (MBLW) is me talking about beer.  It will basically be an introductory journey covering a range of topics from the disputed origins of beer itself through to modern brewing fashions – with beer tastings. $20.

It is going to be a very busy month.

This week however everyone’s thoughts are with the people of Canterbury who have again been struck by a devastating earthquake and an on-going series of strong after-shocks.  Our thoughts go out to the families of those who have died, to the people who were injured, to those who have lost their homes and businesses, to those who are in need of assistance, and to those who are frightened and afraid.

A number of breweries, bars and beer companies are located in and around Christchurch and, as the extent of the devastation became clear, many people began frantically searching for news of their friends in the beer industry.  Greig McGill, the hard-working secretary for the Society of Beer Advocates (SOBA), collated information gathered from Twitter, email and phone calls to produce a list showing how the quake affected our friends in beer.

The list, which is linked below, is constantly updated as new information becomes available.  It is heartening to see no-one (so far) on the list appears to have been injured though a number of homes and businesses have been damaged.  Kudos should go to Greig for taking this initiative during a time of great anxiety.

The team at Malthouse are keen to help with relief efforts in any small way they can. This Friday and Saturday they will be making a $1 donation to the relief fund for every tap beer sold, and usually, that’s quite a lot of beer. So come on down and raise a glass while sparing  a thought for our Cantabrian Cousins in this, their true hour of need.

* I would however be a strong supporter of Pie Day.
** Nob and Nobility – 1 October 1987 – probably when Baldrick’s latest plan suggested ‘doing nothing until after our heads are cut off’.
*** These are apparently forms of something called ‘wine.’  I initially thought they were Will Smith’s children.
**** Colin’s words not mine.
***** The man who popularised sideburns for Kiwi beer writers.

Cheers


Beer Writer
Real Beer New Zealand
Beer and Brewer Magazine

Links

SOBA Christchurch News Update – http://www.soba.org.nz/Home/tabid/39/vw/1/ItemID/42/Default.aspx
Malthouse on Twitter – http://twitter.com/malthouse
Malthouse Facebook Group – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wellington/Malthouse/7084276173
Real Beer – http://www.realbeer.co.nz 
Beer and Brewer Magazine – http://www.beerandbrewer.com/