Lagerboy Speaks – Monteith’s New Zealand Lager
‘All beer is good. Some beer is better…’ is a great philosophy for a brewer – and maybe for a beer website too, come to that (although I would hesitate to describe something like Bud Light as good). But that particular saying comes from motto-happy Monteith’s, who also describe themselves as ‘The home of craft beer’, and ‘The taste of New Zealand.’ Some hefty boasts there indeed. Other potential rivals for being the taste of New Zealand are an apparently flourishing microbrewery scene, and global lagerpushers like Tui, Speight’s and Steinlager.
Knowing nothing at all about Monteith’s (not unusual for some of the producers of faraway beers Laberboy gets through), I’d assumed it was just your run of the mill one-trick-brewery. After a visit to their website, how wrong I was (again, not unusual). Established as the Phoenix Brewery in the mid 19th Century, they thrived on the influx of prospectors chasing gold. The Monteith family concern went from strength to strength, and these days produce all kinds of real ales for the Kiwi market (sadly us UK drinkers just get the lager, rather than their doppelbocks, pilseners, wheat beers, porters, radlers, etc etc).
I say sadly only because of the undoubted quality of the brewer, gained from a single bottle of their New Zealand lager. Looking rather splendid in a fern-embossed bottle, it really shows there can be a difference in what are often thought as generic lagers. Dry, crisp, and numerous other adjectives beloved of beer producers later, it’s a really good find. Hopefully some of their other beers will make it over here (they may already have, of course) – but until I can find some I’ll more than happily make do with their lager. At last…Lagerboy uncovers a gem.
