Life’s not just all beer and comics for Cryer
Wellington on a Plate has officially kicked off, and has started with one of its most popular events – beer festival Beervana at Westpac Stadium. Founder chats about his comic book collection of 25,000, his love of and how he went from dreams of marine b
I was working in the wool trade, which was going nowhere in 1993, when a relative suggested I consider selling malt to some of the fledgling craft brewers like Emerson’s and Harrington’s. I set up Cryermalt in New Zealand that year, and then in Australia in 1999. Wellington is the craft beer capital of New Zealand – more craft beer is sold here than anywhere else in New Zealand by market share. It has also been the home for the annual Brewers Guild of New Zealand awards. There has been a huge rise in the number of craft breweries to just over 100 now, whereas 10 years ago there were fewer than 30. Interest among beer drinkers has moved from early adopters to now being in vogue.
More craft breweries, including Wellington, where we’ve seen six open in the past two years alone. We’ll see more craft beers on tap in more bars, being driven by increasing demand for variety and quality. A marine biologist, influenced by watching Jacques Cousteau. It was just amazing seeing whales and the dolphins he spoke about. He was an incredibly inspiring man and I learnt so much from watching his documentaries. The Fifth Element, because it’s just great sci-fi and has a triumvirate of excellent French guys, including director Luc Besson, costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier, and one of the greatest comic artists of all time, Moebius [artist and writer Jean Giraud]. You can’t get better people than that, but then they throw in Bruce Willis as well, who is just a brilliant guy to watch on screen. Rip Hunter Timemaster, by DC Comics. I’m a massive sci-fi fan, and comics are one of my greatest loves. I’ve got a huge collection of about 25,000 comics. I’ve been collecting them for about 35 years, and the collection includes the very first Wonder Woman comic from 1940. I’m a major collector. Bob Layton, Robert Downey Jr, Sylvia Plath, Marilyn Monroe. Layton is a brilliant comic book artist who has worked extensively on Iron Man, who is probably my favourite superhero. Downey, of course, played Iron Man, so you’ve got to have him around for dinner too.