A delicious reason for existence
BY GEOFF GRIGGS
Relevant offers
Beer
For more than six years, I have written a weekly column about beer in The Marlborough Express. The column has also started to appear in The Manawatu Standard.
But why should a newspaper have a column about beer, and, more importantly, why should you read it?
This week, I would like to answer those questions and, hopefully, inspire you to read future columns.
So why am I, an expatriate Pom, writing this column? In a 20-year career working for BBC Television News, I worked on assignments in many parts of Europe, Russia and the United States.
During my travels, I often found that the local beers looked and tasted very different to the robust English ales I enjoyed drinking back home. But rather than settle for some ubiquitous, big-name, international lager, I made it my business to sample and learn about as many different beer styles as possible.
When I first visited New Zealand in 1990, I was amazed at how a nation that claimed to be the world's greatest travellers, and was learning about fine wines, had so little knowledge of, and appreciation for, the world's great beer styles. Twenty years on, what began as a passion is now my livelihood. I migrated to New Zealand in 1995 and have since made my living as a beer educator, writer and consultant.
For 25 years, the New Zealand wine industry and media have worked together to promote the huge diversity of flavours that can be achieved by fermenting grapes. I congratulate them. In one generation, Kiwis have progressed from a nation of lovers of sweet, fizzy pseudo-spumantes and lollyish box wines to a country where many appreciate and seek out the varietal and regional characteristics of individual wines.
But while our wine industry and news media have been busy educating the Kiwi consumer and emphasising wine's diversity and quality, our largest brewers have for the most part been telling us just the opposite.
For as long as I can remember, beer advertising has been about unwavering, almost tribal, allegiance to a single brand, to one type of beer.
Over the years, we have been subjected to all manner of inane catchphrases such as, "Loyal to the bitter end" and "There's only one beer we drink round here, mate", but would anyone ever consider consuming only one type of food or wine to the exclusion of all others? So isn't the concept of always drinking the same beer equally ludicrous? Besides, can there ever really be one panacea beer that's perfect for every mood and moment? I suggest not.
Each week, I try to offer an insight into the amazing diversity of flavours within the world of beer. At its best, beer is not merely a simple thirst quencher, but a serious and worthwhile beverage. With almost 100 different types of beer brewed around the world, this column introduces you to new and unusual styles, suggests how and when to best enjoy them and, where appropriate, recommends suitable food matches.
Finally, and most importantly, my writing is always intended to be inclusive, not exclusive. This column is aimed equally at those who love beer and those who profess not to. All I ask is that you have an open mind and an inquiring palate. Cheers!
- The Marlborough Express
