On that same date, the United States and Switzerland signed an agreement to end a long-running yet baffling tax evasion dispute. However, most people will have 19/8/2009 seared into their memory because it marked the first appearance of the People’s Blog feature on this highly apotheosized website.
Very presciently described at the time as a “semi-regular” column, [1] it involved asking staff and customers to write about beer. The People’s Blog was by no means a new invention. Colin the Handsome yet Softly Spoken Proprietor had seen the concept done on the Devonshire Cat pub website although their version was based solely on staff votes and had not been updated since September 2008. The People’s Blog moniker was, naturally, inspired by legendary thespian and noted Tooth Fairy Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
In the previous four editions, contributors have been asked to nominate their two favourite Malthouse beers and provide a paragraph of justification for each. Virtually none of them have abided by the rules. Today’s guest writers are Ken Double and John Fisher from the incredibly creative company Doublefish.
If you have visited Malthouse, you will have seen their work.
If you have read or heard anything about Malthouse, you will have seen their work.
Actually, if you have ever been to Malthouse then you have probably seen them in person.
Here is what they had to say about bars, beers and brewers:
“There are reasons enough to favour the Malthouse as a drinking establishment, but nothing compels quite like proximity. Typing and scribbling as we do just around the corner from the Fortnum & Mason [2] of beer means that if it’s been on, we’ve probably tried it. Colin’s tendency to sit on interesting kegs like a brooding hen – portioning them out with crack-dealer ruthlessness – can be put down to the desperation of people like us.[3] We know who we are.
It’s difficult to pick just two beers each that have changed our drinking lives, but since that’s the limit we offer apologies to all the beers we’ve loved before but didn’t get around to mentioning.
Tuatara Aotearoa and American Pale Ale: The official beer of Wellington. Hops without the hospitalisation. When there’s nothing new and shiny in, it’s the default purchase. Carl has done a great job with the new all-kiwi hopping regime, so much so we’re not even missing the old APA all that much.
Epic Armageddon/Hallertau Maximus cocktail: During the first West Coast Challenge, Colin Paige, former Mac’s brewer, theorised that these two together would combine to make something special. He was right. We spent the next two weeks ordering 50/50s until the Maximus ran out. What other pub would let you do that?
Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black: We love the Boys and their broad-minded but subversive attitude to brewing. And at least 50% of us enjoy a Rex Attitude occasionally. [4] PKB is a legend, one that was burnished nicely by the original His Majesty, and it remains our favourite among dark beers.
Liberty Summit IIPA: This is exactly the kind of hop nonsense showboating that certain sectors of craft beer are starting to complain about. 9.2% alc/vol and half the Motueka Valley stuffed into every pint. Ridiculous but awesome.
That’s it for now, and we haven’t even mentioned Townsend Bandsman on the hand pull, the sublime products of 8Wired, ParrotDog’s Bitterbitch, Emerson’s Rolling Moon wheat, the newly pimped Croucher range or the finest beer in the world, Bear Republic Racer 5. Except we just did then.”
I see what you did there. Well played gentlemen, very well played.
[1] It has appeared on average just once every six months. This means the People’s Blog happens about as frequently as Mark Richardson admitting he was wrong on The Crowd Goes Wild.
[2] An iconic British department store which was founded in 1707 and is world-renowned for its high-quality goods. Apparently, their famous picnic hampers can cost up to twenty five thousand quid. That would have to be a seriously good hamper. I would expect a small car to be in there.
[3] The Ruthless Crack Dealing Brooding Hens would be an adequate name for a rock band.
[4] That is exactly five times higher than the rate of liking Rex in the general population, according to the brewers themselves.
Cheers
Real Beer New Zealand
Beer and Brewer Magazine
Links
Tuatara Brewing Company: http://tuatarabrewing.co.nz/
Epic Imping Company: http://epicbeer.com/
Hallertau Epicurean Brewbar: http://www.hallertau.co.nz/
Yeastie Boys Post-Modern Brewing Company: http://yeastieboys.co.nz/
Liberty Brewing: http://libertybrewing.co.nz/
Malthouse Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/Malthouse/7084276173
Malthouse Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/malthouse
Malthouse Taps on Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/MalthouseTaps
Neil Miller on Twitter – www.twitter.com/#beerlytweeting
Real Beer – www.realbeer.co.nz
Beer and Brewer Magazine – www.beerandbrewer.com/