A welcome change of brew

SUPPLIED

At home: Martin Townshend at his Upper Moutere home, where he runs a craft brewery

Relevant offers

Beer

Summer Beer Fest Wanaka Beerworks' surprising seasonals DAB golden lager great quencher Here's to your very good health Beerfest bonanza ahead Family beerfest 2011 a year of beer Make Christmas ale and hearty Questions raised over glass decision Marlborough breweries opt out

I must admit I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I first saw a bottle of Martin Townshend's beer on the supermarket shelves. I had heard that the Englishman had set up a small craft brewery on his Upper Moutere lifestyle block and had high hopes for the English-style real ales he had begun making, but I was unprepared for the brewery's brand name.

I know that slugs are attracted to beer and that traps are often baited with beer, but I considered the name Slugtrap distinctly less appealing to the brewery's potential human customers.

So it transpired that within a few months, the name had been dropped in favour of Townshend Brewery. Not exactly original, I know, but a distinct improvement, I'm sure you'll agree.

Our recent overnight stay at The Moutere Inn provided the ideal opportunity to visit the brewery. The short drive from Upper Moutere leads up into a valley and rolling countryside. Set in attractive woodland adjacent to the family's elevated pole house, the tiny brewhouse has been shoehorned into a small outhouse next to a prolific vegetable garden. Inside, there are three small fermenters, a 250-litre mash tun and a gas-fired brewkettle which can handle up to 280 litres. Allowing for evaporation, that's barely five kegs of beer. The brewery office is housed in an elderly caravan, whose ageing wooden panels are protected from the elements by a large tarpaulin and a corrugated-iron roof. The same canopy also shelters a long wooden table with bench seats forming an excellent, if rustic, outdoor sampling area.

While we sampled the beers, Martin explained that for him, brewing "began as a hobby that got out of control". He brews with a combination of European malts and locally grown hops. The brewing water, whose mineral content is especially suited to the production of dark ales, is drawn from a nearby bore and transported to the brewery in 500-litre containers. Yeasts are sourced from an American distributor and selected according to the styles being produced.

We first tasted Three Piece Suite (4.5 per cent), a cloudy wheat beer. Soft, creamy and very yeasty, this quenching brew offers the typical banana and spice notes of the South-German style. Next up was Dinner Ale (4 per cent), an easy-drinking session bitter which is modelled on Fuller's London Pride. I found plenty of fermentation-derived fruitiness with toffeeish malt notes and an appetising dry, hoppy finish.

Next up was Cathcart's NTA, a straw-coloured pale ale with suggestions of nut and tangerine. It is named after Nigel and Tessa Cathcart, two English friends, whose support inspired Martin in his youth. Made with a grist comprising equal proportions of two luscious British pale malts (Maris Otter and Golden Promise), this tasty brew is Martin's tribute to a classic Yorkshire ale, Timothy Taylor's Landlord. Another pale ale, Townshend ESB, was similarly soft and malty, with suggestions of caramel, nut and citrus peel, when we sampled it from the handpump at The Moutere Inn. Our tasting concluded with Number9, a rich, malty sweet stout. Soft, mellow and chocolaty, it offers suggestions of nuts and a hint of yeasty fruitiness leading into a clean, hoppy finish.

At a time when many New Zealand craft brewers are experimenting with extreme hopping levels, it is a pleasant change to experience the soft, textured malt accent of the Townshend beers.

Martin's brewing philosophy precludes the use of filtration, pasteurisation or gas pressure, and his beers are conditioned with live yeast, either in cask or bottle. A lager is being developed with the help of another local brewer and further keg beers will also be outsourced in the future.

Small quantities of an excellent wild fermented cider, made with 33 different varieties of apple grown on the property, are available each May.

Martin has recently decided to brew full time. It's a brave decision, but one I'm sure he won't regret.

Cheers!

Townshend Brewery, at 398 Rosedale Rd, Upper Moutere, is open to visitors by appointment. Phone: 035432170

- The Marlborough Express

Newest First

Oldest First