Beervana 2009: Tasting Notes (Part Two)

I am able to try an IPA from Nøgne Ø, of which we have never heard before. I find it has notes of varnish and isn’t overly drinkable – I can just taste alcohol rather than beer. Him Outdoors claims it’s ‘flowery’ – maybe jonquils then, as their fragrance gives me a violent headache. He has got an Imperial Stout so we swap – this is very, very nice; black with dark brown froth.

The boys turn up with a none-too-fresh-looking chilli in a beer glass. It’s a gimmick lager which bites your tongue from Mussel Inn. Why would you do that to a beer? It’s just silly. To be fair, when the Weevil arrives (two hours late) and wants to catch up, she aims immediately for something she knows she likes, the Monkey Puzzle Extra Strong Ale from the same place, which she announces is ‘a good starter’.

There are talks throughout the evening on such topics as ‘beer and cheese matching’, ‘brewing organically’, ‘the right glass for your beer’ and ‘women and beer mythbusters’. An announcement over the public address system keeps reminding us that these talks are on, but although I would like to listen to Neil Miller and Martin Bosley talk about food and beer, I don’t feel that now is the right time to do so when I am too busy sampling the delights myself – I’ll get a curry later; that will do for food and beer matching tonight.

I am bought a random beer which turns out to be an IPA from the Twisted Hop. My notes at this point read ‘Lovely. I like it. More of this sort of thing’. I am finding it increasingly difficult to balance my pen, programme and camera, and also to write coherent notes evidently.

As Him Outdoors talks to strangers he finds a long-haired ale-lover from Stockport. He actually lives in Auckland and has come down this weekend especially for the beer festival. He is in raptures over the Great End ESB at the Peak Brewery. We try it and I can see why. It is cask conditioned and served via a hand-pull it tastes like something I would expect to find in Coniston. It claims to be ‘extra strong and extra bitter’; my notes read ‘very strong, very fruity and a little bit extra.’ The Weevil reckons it tastes like a Scottish Cal 80, Bellhaven; she’s all for her comparisons.

When we try the Old House ESB from the Townshend Brewery, she decides it is like a Tetley's Mild from Haddon Hall. Just in case I don’t realise how high praise this is, she adds, ‘This is the best beer I’ve had in New Zealand’. The brewing chaps are a little concerned when she asks for ‘more of your finest flattest beer please’ until she bats her big brown eyes and tells them she loves it. I’m impressed too (by the beer rather than the eyes – I’ve seen them all my life) and although it smells slightly of cabbage, it is flat and fulsome and English-tasting.

We head back up to the Arrow Brewing Company for Some Wee Heavy Scotch Ale which is pleasant and sweet and, well...heavy. The chaps provide tasting notes which claim it contains flavours of toffee and orange brandy’. At this stage I think we should probably take their word for it. The Weevil notes, ‘Another flat one – but more fruity Kiwi style’. Him Outdoors has finished noting things. In fact, I think he has misplaced his programme but he has appointed himself chief photographer, hence lots of blurred shots of drinkers’ feet.

We save the best until (nearly) last and savour a drop of Pot Kettle Black from Yeastie Boys. It is still the best beer in show, and they have pretty smart t-shirts too. It’s like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange with hops and alcohol: very tasty indeed!

The adjacent stall is the Green Man Brewery apparently trying to save the world one beer at a time. We join them by starting with an IPA, which is reminiscent of bananas and cloves in a totally nice and tasty, and finishing shortly afterwards with the Strong, which is strong and tasty. I must admit to trying this last time round and not remembering a whole lot afterwards. After a couple of sips of this blend of Dopplebock matured on whisky barrel wood and blended with Best Bitter, a similar thing seems to happen. Is this déjà bu?

So in summation, my top 5 in no particular order are:
Tobin’s Cask Ale – Arrow Brewing Company; Tricerahops Double IPA – Ninkasi; Old House ESB – Townshend Brewery; Great End ESB – Peak Brewery; Yeastie Boys – Pot Kettle Black

Beervana 2009: Tasting Notes (Part One)

Beervana has grown. This year it is almost a victim of its own success. The doors open at 5pm – there has been a previous session from 12-4pm – and the queue snakes back across Civic Square to get into the Town Hall. It is mainly comprised of people who have come straight from work and are looking forward to kicking off their weekend with some decent ales.

Through the doors we are presented with a wrist band a glass – we make sure we get the straight-sided rather than the one with a lip that looks like a vase. It just tastes better drinking out of this one, plus it’s bigger – only one place will charge us more for choosing wisely (Hashigo Zake Limited, since you ask).

The last time I was in this building I was receiving citizenship from the mayor. I suspect this will be a somewhat different evening, although once again I am accompanied by Him Outdoors and the Weevil – both of them are present at most of the major events in my life.

Out of a sense of loyalty, and the fact that they make damn fine beer, we head straight to Yeastie Boys. They are at Beernz Limited/ Bar Edward and have a couple of new beers to sample. I try Plan K (Belgian style; lots of flavor; a bit nutty) and Him Outdoors indulges in a spot of His Majesty (supreme IPA; nice as a first one to try). They are proudly displaying their trophy, and why not? They have won best porter for their Pot Kettle Black, and deservedly so. We determine to return later in the evening when we are ready to come over to the dark side.

We find the boys supping a variety of offerings from Twisted Hop (IPA ‘very bitter, but slightly lacking’) and Tasman Brewing Company (Porter ‘like coffee in a beer glass’; Pale Ale ‘weak tasting with a cheesy aftertaste’), and we take them to find the Arrow Brewing Company. The map is so tiny that Him Outdoors says he can’t read it even with his glasses on, and it is left to me to navigate the corridors of power, and beer.

I discussed the layout with a few of the brewers and they said they generally preferred last year’s more cramped but intimate setting of the Overseas Passengers’ Terminal. There it was all about the brewers and everyone was happy chatting to each other. Here the stalls were more spread out and on the edges of the venue, like blushing wallflowers waiting to be asked for a dance.

The Arrow Brewing Company are tucked away upstairs in a corner with their casks of beer born with altitude. It’s a little early in the evening for the Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, so we opt instead for the Tobins Cask Ale which pours a gorgeous orange/gold colour with a delightful frothy head. It looks like an English drop, tastes like one too and has a long refreshing taste.

We mention that we are heading down there very soon and the friendly chaps invite us to come and visit. I envisage a few sessions on this stuff, not least because the Weevil writes in her tasting notes, ‘sippy session beer – not too fizzy and really nice.’ This makes it into my top five of the night despite the sexist advertising more in line with Tui than the actual decent beer that this is - I suppose most beer advertising is still aimed at men - sigh!

The name Tricerahops from the Ninkasi Brewing Company in Oregon seems to leap out of the page at me, so we make a slightly boozy beeline down to the Regional Wines & Spirits stall where some of the tipple is poured into our glasses. The blokes here are full of patter, ‘We’re the best beer shop in town!’ Him Outdoors has enough of sales talk for a while (he just finished working for a corporate company today) – he barks ‘I know’ and then feels sorry at the crestfallen faces and drinks up appreciatively. I like the hop content very much and find this to be a complex but subtle mix of hops and malt. Only later do I realise it is 8.8%.

We make a point of not visiting the breweries that we know we like because we have drunk their beer before and will do again. Maybe this is a bit unfair (and it means we miss out on Emerson’s Bewitched, a special festive brew apparently) but we simply can’t do justice to them all.

We hear that Epic have sold out of their Armageddon IPA anyway. When we mention this to another brewer, however, he just laughs that is exactly the sort of rumour Luke would put about to create more demand. There’s still some on at The Malthouse anyway and we have a couple of pints later, although we swore we would go straight home after the festival this time.

On shaky ground

Last night the earth moved. No, really. There was an earthquake at around two o’clock in the morning which shook the house. Chester thinks we are targeting him specifically.

As we are moving house, we have been repositioning things, packing things and creating spaces where previously there was furniture. He doesn’t like this – it unnerves him.

We have locked him indoors so that he doesn’t run away or hide in the removal van. He scrabbles his paws against the cat flap which no longer wafts open at his touch, so we have blocked it with boxes. He walks around in circles, yowling. He has to use his litter tray rather than popping out for his morning ablutions – this is undignified and unacceptable. He suffers in less than silence.

Finally last night he curled up on our bed after pacing back and forth and chewing up cardboard for hours. Just after he had settled there was a rumbling, a bang, a crack and a shake. He leapt off the bed and recommenced the vocal complaint (as only Burmese can do).

He is affronted. He is disturbed. I keep telling him that there is no way on earth we would ever leave him behind but I can tell by his furry little face that he doesn’t understand. His little world is coming apart at its seams. I feel responsible, but not for the earthquake.

Daffodil Day

Today is daffodil day. I don’t know if that is an official term but today volunteers from the Cancer Society of New Zealand are out and about on the streets collecting money for research into this most pernicious disease.

The website assures us that 88% of money collected “goes towards vital scientific research into the causes and treatments for all types of cancer, as well as providing a wide range of support services, information, health promotion and education programmes to reduce cancer risk, awareness campaigns and practical support for people affected by cancer.”

The daffodil with its spring connotations and cheerful yellow bloom is the symbol of the Cancer Society and when you donate money you are offered a plastic one to pin to your clothes or a sticker.

The streets of Wellington are grim and grey today but there are bright yellow spots of hope tied to lampposts and blossoming on sombre civil service suits. The ladies I spoke to were eating muffins that had been donated to them by a café across the road. Apparently cancer affects one in three New Zealanders. We cannot be unmoved.

If you can’t find a ‘daffodil seller’ – and they’re pretty easy to spot – you can also donate through the Cancer Society of New Zealand website. I urge you to wear your daffodil with pride and help to battle this disease, which has such devastating consequences.

Lava Glass

Everyone I interview says they are passionate about their job (yes, even the insurance sales representatives) so it is hugely refreshing to find somebody who actually is. Lynden Over’s eyes light up when he describes his enthusiasm for glass. “I’ve always had a fascination with glass – it’s really amazing material.

“Glass has changed our view on the world. Before glass we didn’t have microscopes and we didn’t know that bacteria caused disease. It has led to so much progress and invention in many areas, and I just wanted to work with it.”

He is taking a mini break from his work at his studio in Wairakei near Taupo. He rarely stops for coffee or lunch because the ovens are so expensive to heat to their necessary temperatures that he doesn’t like to waste a second. “I have four gas-fired furnaces and four electric, and my gas bill alone went from $3,000 to $5,000 a month with the latest rise in fuel prices.”

His cheese sandwich rests on a workbench and a bottle of water is constantly at hand. He calls this the hot shop where the furnace is heated to 1060°C. Beside the furnace, there is a ‘glory hole’ and an ‘annealer’ which is used to slowly cool the glass.

“The thickness and the vagaries of the glass depend on how long it takes to cool – we need special cooling areas so that it doesn’t cool down too quickly.” The vase that he is working on will take about two days, but some of the paperweights in his gallery are eight inches thick and took two months to cool properly.

Customers can watch Lynden work his molten magic from a bank of cushioned seats in the studio. “I describe to people what I’m doing and talk to them as I’m working.

"The studio used to be open and part of the gallery but people would come and stand and watch which it made it hard for others to look at the artefacts and buy things. So we separated them into different areas and that works really well – people can get close to the objects in the gallery and have a good look at them now, or they can sit and watch the glassblowing uninterrupted.”

He is a born showman as he explains the process. He puffs air into a molten blob of glass which he gathers at the end of a blowpipe like a honey dipper. Through a series of breaths, he then inflates this to the desired size, and twirls it in the air like an acrobat to control the temperature.

“You have to be ambidextrous. There is only a limited amount of time you can work with the glass before it cools down, and if it cools too fast it can break so you have to be able to make really quick decisions. You work to a rhythm and know what comes next in the process.”

Lynden is able to craft this vase himself, but he says he enjoys making big pieces, such as huge galactic bowls which take three people to make. “You have to be really organised and know what stage you are up to – it’s almost like a dance around each other. It’s a fine line between letting a piece get too hot or too cold and it requires a lot of concentration.”

Backlit by flames like a sorcerer he sculpts and decorates the malleable glass, rolling it in fragments of coloured glass (intriguingly called ‘frit’) that have been transported from Auckland. These chips are laid out in piles on a workbench like the ingredients of some sparkling dish.

He shows me shelves of neatly labelled boxes of many colours – the green hues alone take up several rows: emerald; jade; forest; eel; lime; granny smith; opal; olive… The cold shop is where the grinding and polishing take place. “It’s easy to tell which is which depending on whether or not you need a jersey.”

It seems appropriate for Lynden’s studio to be based in this region and it takes its name, Lava Glass, from the surrounding volcanic activity. He didn’t always intend to be in Taupo, but he came here for a holiday and stayed.

Now he takes his inspiration for designs from the natural world around him. A series inspired by the Huka Falls features shades of blue and white and frothy bubbles. The tectonic teardrops imitate the lava-like molten shapes; “a liquid tear with layers of colour representing the landscape of mountain and rock with hints of the fluid, fiery depth of the earth.”

Lynden’s interest in glass creations ignites his vocabulary and he is also creative in his practical approach. “The equipment is highly specialised and a lot of our tools have to come from England or America. You have to be a bit inventive with making your own equipment. I built the kiln and made this workbench myself because I couldn’t find anything that worked.”

He is no stranger to this type of problem-solving. “My dad was a potter and I helped him build a kiln so I’ve always been used to working with high temperatures and hazardous materials. But I soon realised there was no money to be made in the arts so took engineering courses and became a labourer.”

A diploma of applied arts at Northland Polytechnic at Whangarei majoring in glass and jewellery drew him back to glassblowing – “It’s part of our heritage and history.” When he talks about machine-made glass, the fire flickers and threatens to go out. “Rogernomics killed all the glass studios. They are so expensive to run and you can buy mass-produced items for a fraction of the cost. Some of the most prestigious glassblowing industries, such as Waterford Crystal and Caithness have gone into receivership.”

But the spark is still there and he brightens up again as he explains, “Handmade goblets will be unique while machines can’t put coloured patterns into glass. I suppose for everyday use people can buy their glassware from the Warehouse, but glassblowing is still used for gifts and art. We just need to educate the public about what goes into it.”

The Lava Glass studio is a great place to start learning.

Sporting highlights

What a weekend. We beat the Aussies! We won the Ashes! It was very exciting, what with Ponting’s ovations, Hussey’s hundred, Flintoff’s throw, Strauss’s example, Broad’s bowling, Swann’s flights of fancy (much like mine) and the ‘raucous Sunday crowd’ complete with the return of the trumpet. I’m glad it’s back and we are all very happy.

The football season is off to a flying start – it’s stirring, scintillating, and sparkling stuff. Man Utd, Chelsea, and Arsenal have all come out guns blazing, and Burnley are proving that they will be no mere cannon fodder. Liverpool are doing their usual 'inspire you with hope one minute; crush you with despair the next' thing that they do. It really is the beautiful game.

I admit to cheering a Man Utd goal, but before I am stoned by Scousers, I hasten to add that it was scored by Owen, and even if he is in the wrong red, he's still my Little Michael.

The World Athletic Championships in Berlin is throwing up thrills and spills. The track events produced dropped batons, barged competitors, disqualifications and ‘gender verifications’. Jamaica won both the men’s and women’s 4 x 100m, Britain earned a silver medal in the men’s 4 x 400m – my favourite event to watch.

Usain Bolt is unquestionably the world’s fastest man, and Kenenisa Bekele is arguably the world’s finest athlete. By winning both the 10,000 and the 5,000m at the same event, the Ethiopian becomes the first person ever to do so.

British athlete Lisa Dobriskey was upgraded to silver in the 1,500m after a barging charge against the original winner. Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk achieved a world record in this mad sport that involves twisting your back and gyrating your neck in a way that can’t be good for you, and then she twisted her ankle in a victory bounce.

Caster Semenya is grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons. The South African athlete won the women’s 800m only for people to question whether she is indeed a woman. Apparently she is ‘far too strong, fast and masculine’ to be a woman, and doubts were raised when ‘she liked soccer and wore trousers to school’. Well, heaven help us all.

The IAAF have stated they will ‘verify’ her gender, which involves an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an expert on gender and a clinical psychologist. Results may take three to four months. I honestly didn’t know it was so complicated.

Resignations and columns of newspaper print surround this story, but it leaves an unsavoury taste. Is it out and out cheating; is it just sour grapes by those beaten; or is it that the media can’t cope with women in sport who don’t look like Anna Kournikova – no matter if they’ve got infinitely more talent; would they look good on a billboard advertising underwear?

There was also some rugby on – I know because the football and athletics programmes were cancelled while the rugby match was shown several times with warm-up and post-mortem debates. While I was watching it very attentively, I noticed a striking look-i-like-i: Matt Gitteau actually bears a strong resemblance to Heath Ledger.

I think it’s because they’ve both got slightly skewed faces with their features all pointing in opposite directions, not unattractively. It’s as though God said, ‘the good new is; I’m going to give you a face like an oil painting. The bad news is; it’s by Picasso’. Now who said He has no sense of humour.

Power and Persuasion

Power and Persuasion (Alchemy Actors Company)

Philosophy House, August 14-21

Shakespeare’s plays are so often about power – who has it; who wants it; and what they are prepared to do to get it. This theme is extensively explored in a series of extracts from a selection of the playwright’s dramas in Power and Persuasion. John Bach and Mel Dodge enact these vignettes with palpable emotion. The venue of Philosophy House is perfect as the audience walk up a sweeping staircase and into a world of heightened reality where issues are argued from every angle.

Each of the five pieces are performed in the traverse so you watch one then another like a tennis match or a fencing bout as the actors serve and volley; thrust and parry the barbed comments and cunning appeals. Tipping this balance like a see-saw they approach and withdraw or circle one another, sneaking up from behind or breaking away as in a fervent tango.

The actors are dressed in black and change their characters through their movement and expression rather than their dress. Small costume adjustments allow a shawl to represent Queen Katherine or a bright red ribbon tied around the waist to indicate the blood-lust of Lady Macbeth. Bach twists his own back into the deformity of Richard III or toys casually with an apple as the confident suitor Petruchio.

Oberon and Titania begin the evening with the scene from Midsummer Night’s Dream in which they battle over the changeling child. This episode is often cut from full-length productions, although I wonder why if it can be made so alluring as this. Nature itself is perturbed by their duelling, and their whirling, twisting movements are fluid and lithe, verging on hypnotic.

I’ve never read nor seen Shakespeare’s Henry VII so this extract is a real treat. Bach is all calm composure and assumed deference as his Cardinal Wolsey approaches Dodge’s Queen Katherine and bids her to grant King Henry a divorce so that he can marry Anne Boleyn. Knowing how much she stands to lose, Katherine refuses and her inner turmoil writhes passionately beneath her mask-like face. This would be an excellent piece for an audition and I mentally file it for future reference.

Hilary Norris directs a selection of scenes from Macbeth from the moment Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy of the witches to the murder of Duncan and the onset of madness. Highlighted by an intense and eerie soundscape (James Dunlop), this piece has chilling power and Lady Macbeth uses all the emotional weapons in her arsenal (from seduction to ridicule) to persuade.

The actors wrestle both physically and verbally through Taming of the Shrew. Bach is a commanding and confident Petruchio with just a hint of cruelty while Dodge is truly tempestuous as Kate. The constant ebb and flow movement resembles the erosion of waves upon a shore and, when the couple grapples on the floor, I can’t help but think of the beach scene in From Here to Eternity.

According to the programme notes, Lyndee-Jane Rutherford has never directed Shakespeare before. Judging from this excerpt from Richard III which befits her slightly melodramatic style, this is definitely a direction she should explore. Bach’s mellow tones suit the tyrant king perfectly and Dodge is credibly distraught as the grieving Anne. The intensity of hatred underpinning the formal courtship leaves a lasting impression as the final of the quintuplet. As we descend the stairs back to the rain-washed streets I believe this really is a ‘brave new world that has such people in it.’

Read Mary Anne Bourke's excellent review on Theatreview