Monteith’s not quite what you’d expect on the Coast

WEST Coasters are up in arms at DB’s decision to stop making their local Monteith’s beer in Greymouth. But they have not, for years, been drinking beer made there.

The brew that is made in Greymouth is sent to Auckland and Timaru where 99.9% of Monteith’s is made) and distributed from there.

While on the Coast years ago, I stayed a night in the Whataroa pub. A local, an Irishman called Paddy, was upset about not being able to have his

Monteith’s Dark because the publican was waiting for a keg to arrive — from Timaru (450km away); not Greymouth, 90km up the road.

His Dark was there in bottles (also from Timaru), but he was miffed because they cost more than what came out of the tap. Were they cheaper to take away than drink there, asked the canny Paddy? Yes. Was it all right to drink it outside, then?

Finally the longsuffering publican let him drink it at the bar for the takeaway price.

And if West Coasters think Monteith’s has been around since 1868, as claimed in the beer’s marketing, they are wrong, because the label has been around less than 30 years.

Stuart Monteith moved from goldmining in Otago in 1868 to Reefton where he bought into several hotels. None of his beers were called ‘‘Monteith’s’’.

His son, William, led a merger of five West Coast hotels into Westland Brewing in 1927 when its head office and a bottling plant (but not a brewery until 1949) were installed where today’s Monteith’s brewery is. DB bought Westland Brewing in 1969 and changed its labels to ‘‘Monteith’s’’ in 1990.

There are no plans yet to dismantle the plant.

When in Rome . . .

Beervana, the biggest beer event on the New Zealand calendar with about 50 breweries (including Dunedin’s Emerson’s and Queenstown’s Altitude), was fizzing in Wellington over the weekend.

Too far for me to go, but Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan was there on business and popped in before returning home — not just for the beer but to study how the event was organised.

He tasted a ‘‘good number’’ of the beers, but that represented only a few of what was on offer.

He normally drinks APAs and IPAs, and his top brews there were Duncan Brewery’s Oat Cream hazy IPA and Choice Bros APA Puppet Dancer.

Floral

For me, a salad is a crisp iceberg lettuce. Not of those limp, chewy cos things. And certainly not small pansies and other flowers they sprinkle on salads in cafes and restaurants.

Quite a lot of flowers are edible, most of which have a peppery or spicy taste: geranium (lime/nutmeg) , nasturtium, fennel (liquorice), carnations (clovelike spice), jasmine (sweet/spicy), lavender (citrus) or courgette, which can be crumbed or battered and deepfried.

So, what about hibiscus flowers in beer? Those flowers add acidity and a floral spiciness. Now THAT, I will try.

Wellington brewery Kereru has a Sea of Pink hazy hibiscus IPA (6.9%) from December 1. It is pinkish; the hue of guavas. The aroma is strong, with hints of guava and orange. And instead of hop bitterness there is tartness.

A mate likes it. I almost do but, like my salads, I prefer crispness.