Stoke Brewery – Nelson

They like to do things a little differently at the Stoke Brewery in Nelson.

The guide for my morning tour of their facility was resident in-house artist Daniel Campion. Three years ago Dan was using a corner of their mothballed site as a studio and he has stayed on as tour guide in the revitalised Stoke Brewery.

Daniel Campion - Resident artist, brewery guide and genial chap.

Nelson has a brewing tradition stretching back to the 1840s when early German and British settlers brought their hops, barley and brewing know-how to the area. The Nelson region used to boast a plethora of small breweries but in the mid 20th century a prolonged period of rationalisation and takeover by the industry duopoly of Lion Nathan and DB saw the local brewing industry all but disappear.

Thirty years ago, Terry McCashin, applied for the first new brewing license in a life time and thus Mac’s beer was born. As Dan says ‘in a battle reminiscent of Astrix and the Gauls vs the Roman Empire’, Mac’s took on the multi nationals and won a place in the hearts of the discerning New Zealand beer drinking public.

After twenty years of challenging the status quo and kicking off a craft beer brewing revolution, Mac’s was bought out by Lion Nathan in 1999. Whilst the Mac’s Beer brand continues to be popular something has definitely been lost by the subsequent move from the original brewery and the demands of huge production volumes.

Today the Nelson area boasts sixteen boutique breweries; that’s about one for every 6,000 of the local population. A new generation of the McCashin family under Dean and Emma McCashin are revitalising the family tradition with the Stoke Beer brand.

The Stoke range are all produced at the old Rochdale Cider Factory, original home of Mac’s beer where they utilise the on-site Palaeo Water (reputedly amongst the purest water in the world). Local and imported malts are used to produce their rapidly expanding range of beers and batch brewing techniques combined with a three week maturation period, ensure an authentic boutique product packed with flavour.

Stoke Beer Brewery - Nelson

If you’re in the area pop in to see Dan for a tour and sample their delicious range of beers and ciders also check out Dan’s mixed media art pieces dotted around the factory and Sublime cafe.

Visit mccashins.co.nz for more info.

Chester Brown’s guide to Mount Gay Rum

The majestically named Chesterfield Brown is a man evidently happy with his lot in life. In his role as Global Brand Ambassador for Mount Gay Rum, Chester travels the world extolling the virtues of his beloved Mount Gay Rum and his island home of Barbados.

I caught Chester at Tuesday night’s tasting in Auckland. Mount Gay’s history can be traced back until at least 1703 and thus can lay claim to being the world’s oldest Rum. It was named after Sir John Gay Aleyn an early English settler on Barbados and thus predates any modern gay associations! As Chester points out Mount Gay was gay before gay and in any event can be enjoyed straight! Barbados known as the ‘Jewel of the Carribean’ is an island composed of coral and limestone unlike it’s volcanic neighbours, this provides the all essential naturally filtrated water.

We sampled all the expressions of Mount Gay Rum starting with the Silver which is a white rum made from pot and column still distillates, aged for two years in oak and then charcoal filtered to remove any colour. This production process creates a rum with delicious vanilla and banana notes.

The golden rum Eclipse is named after the 1910 solar eclipse which coincided with the passage of Haleys Comet. It is a blend of rums aged between 2 to 7 years. It get’s its colour from the American Oak Bourbon barrels in which it is matured and has floral and smoky flavours.

Mout Gay’s premium offerings are Extra Old and 1703. These are a blend of 8 – 15 yro and 10 – 30yro respectively. They display to varying degrees elements of banana, moka, toffee and vanilla, to quote Chester’s grandmother they are ‘moreish’ and as delicious to sip as any fine Congnac or Single Malt.

Chester regaled us with some tales of Island life and extolled the virtues of the humble Bajan Rum Shop, where the real people of Barbados are to be found. A good night and Barbados has been added to the holiday wishlist.

Get super deals on Mount Gay Rum at Glengarry.

Kia Ora The Nextmen.

UK Dj and Production duo The Nextmen make a flying visit to New Zealand this weekend for a quick run of club shows. No need for an exhaustive biography there’s one on their website. Suffice to say they are quite simply some of the best club party Djs you are ever likely to encounter. The first time I caught them many years ago their set included Lionel Richie, Motown, INXS, Drum and Bass, Dancehall, Hip Hop, House a bunch of other genres and Joan Jett’s ‘I love Rock n Roll’. The ‘we’ll play it if it’s good’ formula has won them a legion of fans across the globe.

Kiwi’s were early adopters of The Nextmen and they have been frequent visitors to these shores most recently turning in a legendary performance at 2009’s Rhythm and Vines Festival. The Nextmen count Fat Freddys Drop, MC Tali, Christopher Tubbs and P Diggs amongst their local musical whanau having collaborated with or remixed these New Zealand artists.

The Nextmen’s newish podcast went straight to No.1 in the itunes chart and it perfectly showcases their love of the diverse. Brad Baloo (one half of the crew) has been exercising his production chops recently to good effect with Essex rockers ‘The Milk’

Get there early, it’ll be a roadblock. See ya down the front.

Catch The Nextmen

Fri 1st July Zen, Auckland

Sat 2nd July Sandwiches, Wellington

Mon 4th July World Bar, Queenstown

Bruichladdich – Progressive Hebridean Distiller

Tonight’s Glengarry Malt Club was an exploration of whiskies from the ‘Laddie’.

The story of Bruichladdich (Brook-laddy) dates back to their establishment in 1881 by the Harvey family who took advantage of the increased demand for Scottish Whisky as a result of the  Phylloxera epidemic which had decimated the production of European wine and brandy.

The subsequent story reads like an epic drama, including four periods of closure and mothballing for The Great Depression, World War 2 and the corporate intrigues of mergers and acquisitions.

New ownership and production starting in May 2001 signalled reinvention crucially with former Bowmore manager Jim McEwan brought in as Production Director.

Bruichladdich today produces a vast range of styles and we tasted various expressions.  First up the Norrie Campbell 3D Third Edition was a peaty little monster which was a blend of three vintages from three warehouses and a real palette cleanser. A good alternative for your die hard Laphroaig drinker.

The next three expressions were an object lesson in Sherry cask treatment. Fino Oloroso ’98 had nutty characteristics, Manzinilla ’98 was more complex in nature and Fino Sherry ’92 was dry with a unique light touch.

We finished with two ‘Laddies’ from the mysterious Black Art Series – a cask strength (51%) 19 year old and a 49% 21 yr old. Both a secret blend from various Sherry/Bourbon aged selections and possibily some contact from a Cabernet Sauvignon cask. Both delicious and deserving of closer attention.

The whiskies were accompanied by a fine selection of NZ and European cheeses and as a special treat Royal Legacy Drambuie – the world’s finest cask infused malt whisky liqueur (imagine the best Rusty Nail you’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking).

Add to this a bag piper, haggis in a tapas stylee and good craic. What’s not to like?

Buy your Bruichladdich whisky here.

Next Malt Club is on July 21st (probably featuring the Jura and Dalmore range) and also a tasting of the new rendition of Shackleton’s MacKinley Whisky.

Broken Shed Vodka and Quina Fina Tonic

 I have a renewed respect for cows this morning armed as I am with the knowledge that they, or should I say whey, is the source for the good stuff in Broken Shed Vodka.

Broken Shed pull off the neat trick of taking this unpromising sounding by-product of the cheese making process and through the alchemy of fermentation and quadruple distillation produce a fine liquor.  This is then blended with the purest of Southern Alps water (the other main ingredient) to produce a premium quality vodka.

The guys behind Broken Shed call Wanaka (in the South Island) home and the Broken Shed refers to their original, less than auspicious, distillation facility. The vodka itself is smooth with a pleasing oily consistency and has some welcome heat in the finish. It’s an approach that has already gained them plaudits, recently picking up a Silver Medal at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

“Purely for medicinal purposes Old Boy” has been the clarion call of the colonial lush for years in far flung corners of the Empire.  In the case of Gin and Tonic (specifically tonic) this has some basis in scientific fact.  Quinine, extracted from Ecuadorian Loxa bark has been used by native people for generations for its fever reducing qualities.

It’s to this source that Quina Fina Tonic (kee-na-fee-na) founder Alexander Gledhill returns for the quinine in his drop. Appropriately it comes packaged in a dinky brown glass apothecary style bottle. It’s an all natural product containing no preservatives or chemical nasty stuff.

Quina Fina lacks the cloying sweetness of its mass produced rivals and its citrusy acidity sits well with the aformentioned vodka or indeed puts a welcome spin on the ubiquitious G+T.

New Zealand mixologist Jacob Briar has created some original cocktails featuring Quina Fina Tonic. Check them out here.

Chin Chin!

Both products are available from Glengarry Wines and a growing number of discerning drink vendors nationally

WOMAD NZ

I have attended my share of festivals over the years but WOMAD would differ in two ways; it would be my first in New Zealand and more pertinently, my first with two babies in tow. Thus I was keeping a keener eye than usual on the weather. The ominious grey clouds on the trip down gave way to a weekend of glorious sunshine – an essential ingredient for happy campers.

WOMAD NZ takes place in Brooklands Bowl, a natural ampitheatre located on the edge of New Plymouth, nestled under the picture postcard Mt Egmont . It’s in a beautiful location and the main stage sits in the middle of a lake complete with ducks who appeared unperturbed by Sufi devotinal singing or bass heavy dub steppin’.  WOMAD fits into the boutique category of festivals with good food, hot showers and bars stocked with the Monteiths range of beers.

The joy of festivals is being able to check out lots of different stuff and making new discoveries along the way. Musically WOMAD was top drawer. The line-ups are by definition diverse, featuring artists from all over the globe, their unifying theme being that they represent their culture or place.

Trinidadian, Calpyso queen Calypso Rose‘s energy belied her 70 years as she got the Friday night carnival party started complete with a dose of hilarious between song banter.

Friday’s headline act were blind Malian couple Amadou and Mariam and they kicked off their set with Welcome to Mali. Singing mostly in their native French, their funking afro beat rhythms had the crowd eating out of their hands.

Elsewhere across the weekend I caught 17 Hippies (Ger), Baron’s of Tang (Aus) and The Cat Empire (Aus) all of whom seem to share a similar maximalist philosophy with about a dozen members featuring as many instruments as possible. Suffice to say their brassy, gypsy, punky schick had the crowds involved in racous dancing.

Local acts featured well. With Tiki Tane sitting at No. 1 in the NZ album charts he wasn’t going to let a sun kissed afternoon slot with the biggest crowd of the weekend go begging. He basically tore the roof off with his dubbed up riddims and he entered into the global cultural exchange mood by featuring a fearsome looking Maori dance troop. When he sang the line from his recent hit Summertime ‘There ain’t no party like a New Zealand party in the summertime’ he was pretty much on the money.

I’ve heard Trinity Roots’ music over the years courtesy of Kiwi friends but it’s live that they come into their own so their recent reformation is most welcome. They played a blinding sunset slot and I had what could be described as ‘a festival moment’  on hearing ‘Beautiful People’.

The global food village featured all your favourite international food of which I enjoyed the Hungarian fried bread puffs with tomato and pesto topping courtesy of Langos. If you needed a shopping fix then there were stalls selling carvings, jewellery, musical instruments and ethnic fashions.

Handily Brooklands Bowl has its own childrens playpark and petting zoo where I was able to retire with my 2 year old daughter when she tired of the Creole Choir of Cuba.

Elsewhere I had a festival first by attending a cookery demonstration, hosted by Petra Mathias featuring the aforementioned Creole Choir of Cuba. They russelled up a tasty fish dish whilst treating us some bursts of gospal singing – true soul food.

So all up a cracking festival – well organised and quite literally catering to all ages with even special elevated seating platforms for the over 65s. We left happy campers planning our return next year.

The Dartmouth Arms – A Pub in peril

The launch of a planning permission application has got the locals and regulars of north London pub The Dartmouth Arms worried. The plan is to convert the upper floors and rear bar area of the pub into 3 apartments. Whilst the application makes no mention of pub closure or a change of usage it’s safe to assume that this could well happen as a consequence. The pub would dramatically decrease in size undermining it’s future viability. After a period of closure for ‘refurbishment’ developers frequently argue that there is no longer a community demand and it’s goodbye community local.

This story is nothing new with pub closures in the UK currently occurring at the rate of 39 a week according to the British Beer and Pub Association. The Dartmouth as the locals refer to it was always going to be an attractive proposition for residential development located as it is in desirable Dartmouth Park on the leafy fringes of Hampstead Heath.

At this point I must declare an interest because between the years of 1998 and 2002 I lived and worked in The Dartmouth Arms. I was part of a team that relaunched the refurbished pub to general acclaim. The Dartmouth was a special place, a real  community local, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, taxi drivers, psychotherapists, and for some reason a lot of landscape gardeners ate and drank together in a democratic and convivial atmosphere. The fortunes of North London’s two competing football teams were followed there with real passion and good humour.

Weekly quizzes were fiercely contested, Rabbie Burns was toasted with haggis supper and a bagpiper and the old year was seen out and the new one greeted amongst friends, family, regulars and strangers. Men (myself included) would meet their future wives there, whilst others would escape their current one.

On the day of the London bombings it was to this place that local people instinctively flocked to commune with their fellow Londoners.

There were a group of older male regulars now sadly depleted, christened ‘the back bar boys’ who between them had accrued over 200 years of pub usage. They never tired of good humouredly reminding us that they had seen their share of Pub Landlords and owners come and go. They were absolutely right of course, the pub belonged to them and we were merely it’s current guardians.

The Dartmouth Arm’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed over it’s 150 odd year history and it is no doubt current financial considerations that drive this development and implied threat to the pub’s future. At a time when politicans like to talk of community and big society (whatever that means) they would do well to remember that ‘The Darty’ is a living, breathing, much loved cog in a local community.

Supporters of the pub can take heart from the story of Kentish Town pub ‘The Pineapple‘ which survived a similar fate a few years ago after a concerted community campaign. They have got a fight on their hands and I wish them well.

Get involved at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144138158986445

Limbering up for the New Zealand Beer Festival

A graveyard of empty bottles

Here at Uptown Ranking Towers I decided to set myself the onerous task of sampling seven New Zealand craft beers in seven days in anticipation of The New Zealand Beer Festival.

First up was an Indian Pale Ale beer from Christchurch based brewery 3 Boys. They have recently produced a beer called Aftershock so I like these boys already and I’m happy to support New Zealand’s earthquake ravaged second city, through the medium of beer drinking. It’s a clear amber liquid with a fruity hop aroma and a great start to my week.

Dunedin’s Emerson’s Brewery is multi award-winning and they do a brilliant Pilsner so I try their slant on the classic Bavarian style Weissbier next. I conclude that they do a pretty good job maybe lacking the full lemony mouthful of the German original but a quaffable drop non the less.

It’s fitting that on what feels like the first day of Autumn in Auckland my tipple is Moa’s Five Winter Hop Ale. This hails from Marlborough a region more associated with wine making and indeed the brewer Josh Scott draws heavily on Champagne making techniques for the bottle conditioned drop. It’s malty and creamy a real connoisseurs beer.

Yeasty Boys‘ Pot Kettle Black is produced by a couple of beer anoraks from Invercargill. They only use ‘hip hops’ (boom boom). This Porter style beer is malty and fruity with caramel notes and if you can’t source the Irish original on St Patrick’s day this will do a treat.

If you’re concerned by things like food miles then the downtown Aucklander should consider Hallertau Number 1.  I spent a very pleasant afternoon at their brew bar/ restaurant located 20 minutes out of Auckland this week. They hold to the German purity laws and this Golden Kolsh is a fresh treat.

My penultimate brew comes from Leigh Sawmill a fantastic music venue / restaurant and now brewery located in Leigh – just outside Matakana. Their strong Lager (6.5%) comes in a styley swing-top bottle and has a big hop flavour which is really refreshing.

The last beer is another Moa production – St Joseph’s Tripel. I spent a year of my life dressed as a Trappist Monk, serving 101 Belgium beers in London’s busiest restaurant so I was a little sceptical of a New Zealand produced Abbey Ale. How wrong I was, it’s an absolute knock-out with a fruity floral aroma and the 9.5% giving it a proper kick.

The New Zealand beer drinking scene is dominated by two major players, Lion Nathan and Dominion Breweries. Whilst the liquids they produce do an adequate job of slacking your thirst, the really interesting brews are amongst the craft and microbrewery scene. It appears to be in rude health and I look forward to trying some other contenders at the Beer Festival.

The New Zealand Beer Festival

Saturday 26th March @ Ellerslie Racecourse Auckland

Over 70 beers from more than 20 breweries will be represented at the festival, featuring a wide range of New Zealand beers, with a few notable overseas visitors

http://www.beerfestival.co.nz/