The old girl still has plenty to offer

BY GEOFF GRIGGS

In last week's column, I wrote about a website promoting beer tourism in the top of the South Island.

The site was brought to my attention by its author, Kieron Lattimer, a beer-loving expatriate Englishman, who, as well as being a mathematics teacher at Nelson College, is a shareholder in The Moutere Inn in Upper Moutere.

Kieron invited Pip and I to come and spend a night at the historic pub. As well as being New Zealand's oldest, The Moutere Inn has one of New Zealand's largest ranges of craft beer.

The pub is a stone's throw from the hop fields and close to five microbreweries, so it wasn't exactly a difficult decision. Even allowing for multiple sets of roadworks between Blenheim and Nelson, the drive took less than 2 1/2 hours, so those arriving in Picton on the ferry should probably allow about three hours.

Today, Upper Moutere consists of a petrol station, a general store, a fish-and-chip shop and the pub, but it wasn't always such a sleepy place. The area was first settled in the early 1840s by German immigrants who brought with them hop plants and grapevines.

The settlers originally called the town Sarau, after a town in Germany, but because of anti-German feelings during World War I, it was renamed Upper Moutere.

The town's historic two-storeyed pub was built and licensed by Cordt Bensemann in 1850 and a second wing was soon added to create living quarters for his family. He and his wife, Anna, would have needed the extra accommodation. They had nine children.

Records show that in 1858, 28 Germans and 23 English people lived in the area. Tobacco, hops, pipfruit and stonefruit and wood-milling brought increasing numbers of workers to the area and for many years the pub was the busiest in the region. However, by the 1960s and 1970s, with the gradual demise of the tobacco industry and the contraction and mechanisation of the region's other industries, the population shrank and the pub struggled.

The Moutere Inn is New Zealand's oldest licensed premises to remain operating in its original building. That the structure remains almost intact today is thanks to the area's declining fortunes. Electricity and telephone lines didn't arrive until the late 1950s, so commercial pressures that led to other historic pubs being demolished didn't affect the inn, and it was left largely untouched.

The current owners took over in October 2008 and since then the pub has dispensed 119 beers from 32 New Zealand craft breweries. Offering a friendly welcome, good food and an exceptional selection of beers and other beverages, the pub now attracts a broad base of customers. Last Friday, when we arrived, the huge car park was almost full and the bar was buzzing, mostly with local families.

But the pub also gets more than its fair share of visitors. During the evening, Kieron introduced me to a French journalist and his girlfriend who had come especially to research a story about the New Zealand brewing industry for a French beer magazine.

After a good night's sleep in one of the pub's spacious, if somewhat rustic, bedrooms, it was time to head home.

On the way back, Pip and I couldn't resist the opportunity to call in at the Lighthouse Brewery in Stoke to catch up with our old friend, brewer Dick Tout. A jovial fellow, with an endless repertoire of bawdy jokes, lighthouse-keeper Dick claims, "I sell only the beer I can't drink myself", so it's probably just as well that his is New Zealand's smallest commercial brewery.

With a batch size of only 200 litres – barely four kegs – Dick keeps himself busy producing a range of five beers.

Cheeky Little Lager (4.5 per cent) is a crisp, easy-drinking golden brew; Tasman Bay Pilsener (5 per cent) is a lemony, slightly creamy-tasting, hoppy lager; Dick's Dark (4.5 per cent) is a malty dark mild, with suggestions of nuts, chocolate and coffee; and Victory Ale (5.5 per cent) is a toffee-ish and toasty English-style strong bitter. Arguably the brewery's best beer, and Pip's favourite, is Lighthouse Classic Stout (5 per cent), an intense, roasty brew with coffee and caramel flavours.

We also visited another tiny craft brewery in Upper Moutere, but that's another tale. Cheers!

BREWS, NO BLUES

Those who prefer not to drink their beer from plastic cups should head along to Blenheim's Scotch Bar, at 26 Maxwell Rd, on Saturday evening. Emerson's Pils, Three Boys Wheat, Renaissance Chocolate Stout, Moa Original, Mussel Inn, Captain Cooker Manuka Beer and Epic Pale Ale will be available on tap from 7pm. All these beers will be served in proper glasses. Great brews minus the blues!

- The Marlborough Express