It was a bit of a surprise today to see that the British High Commissioner to New Zealand, Vicki Treadell had written a blog post, about beer, as part of The Beerhive’s summer guest blog series. Actually I was more impressed than surprised.
What I was most impressed by with, were the kind words that she had to write about me in the article.
“The first New Zealand brewer I met was Luke Nicholas of Epic. I had read about Luke before I came out to New Zealand when I was drinking a pint of his ale* at a JD Wetherspoon pub in London. Luke had been invited to brew an ale for Wetherspoon’s annual May Beer Festival. So I was keen to track him down when I arrived here. After I met him I did a little video blog using beer as a metaphor for innovation and connections between the UK and New Zealand.
Apart from Epic and Tuatara I have to confess I struggled to find great beer when I first came to New Zealand three and a half years ago.
I was a little depressed at the dearth of a really good beer in the average pub until Luke pointed me in the direction of the Malthouse and from there I learnt about Hashigo Zake.”
“My ambition before I leave is to host a beer festival at my residence, Homewood, to celebrate beer connections and influences between the UK and New Zealand. I have seven months left to deliver, so I had better get cracking!”
Vicki has already extended her hospitality to the beer community by hosting the launch of Michael Donaldson’s book Beer Nation and my beer Message in a Bottle, at her residence in August 2012. A generous host and a beautiful residence. So anyone that wants to get involved in helping to organise a beer festival at Homewood please get in touch. Many hands make light work