The WT's Review of the Wide, Wide World of Beer: New Zealand

Tiger Beer, Asia Pacific Breweries
Where: Auckland and Day 10 of the West Coast hike
So the question that comes to mind is why have a mass produced Singaporean beer when one is out and about in captivating New Zealand? For one thing, it tasted pretty good cold. And in Auckland, it was what the bartendress recommended at a cool little live music/jazz bar off Kitchener street whose name escapes me at this point. On the widely accepted WT Skunkiness scale, with Heineken rating a 10, I would give Tiger a 7, maybe even an 8. Tiger has a hazy, golden color and it goes down rather smoothly, with just enough of a bitter aftertaste to let you know you've been drinking beer.

Monteiths Summer Ale, Monteiths Brewing Company
Where: Near Okarito
Monteiths was recommended by Andre, our guide, so we picked up 2 six packs, one of them being the Summer Ale, on one our supermarket jaunts (incidentally one of our compadres was not allowed to buy beer because she did not have her id with her and looked a little too young according to the cashier. There are advantages to looking like you have a porcupine glued to your face after a week of not shaving). We enjoyed this tasty summer concoction as we sat on the West Coast beach, eating our first and last fast-foodish type meal (don't ask). Monteiths Brewery is around 150 years old and is brewed in Greymouth, on the West Coast so I can at least say that I've tasted some authentic New Zealand brew. The Summer Ale was quite lively, spicy and sweet at the same time. It also had a cinnamony taste to it and went down very nicely with my authentic Kiwi cheeseburger and kumara fries.

Monteiths Golden Lager, Monteiths Brewing Company
Where: Near Okarito
This was the second choice of six packs we had on the beach (don't we sound like a bunch of drunks?). Unlike the other lagers I've described so far, Monteiths Golden Lager had a distinctly sweet taste and was not bitter at all. I daresay it had a hint of honey, although it was nowhere near as syrupy as the Monteiths Summer Ale. Overall, it was a servicable lager with a classic golden yellow color. I guess I prefer my lagers a little more on the bitter side.

Monteiths Celtic Red, Monteiths Brewing Company
Where: Camping near Mount Aspiring National Park
Very red. That's how I would describe Celtic Red. And how does it taste? Bitter but a little watered down in my opinion but I would rate it higher than Killian's Red. I will say I don't drink all too many reds - so it's a little tough to judge. It did have a a roasty flavor of sorts - I could swear there was a hint of coffee in there. It did go well with the fresh salmon we roasted over an open fire. If you're a fan of reds, give it a shot - otherwise, you can safely skip it.

Speight's Pale Ale, Lion Breweries
Where: Queenstown
This was the first beer I had at a bar after the end of the hike. It's an odd feeling to be back in the cradle of civilization. Toilets (why does that come up first?). Restaurants. And oodles and oodles of people. Way too many people - despite being gone only for 10 days, I felt needed a day or two of reintegration and Queenstown, as beautiful as it is, was not the right place for reunite with the urbane world. Anyhow, Speights helped in this regard. We went to a bar, played pool and had a couple of pints of Speight's- all in all it went down easily, wasn't very hoppy, exhibited a hazy golden color and tasted slightly fruity.

TUI - DB Breweries
Where: Queenstown
Ah - my last local beer in New Zealand. I've had my share of stinkers in my beer travels - I don't think anyone would rate me a beer snob based on this set of reviews. So I will say the best thing about the TUI was that it was free. In an attempt to lure the gals and myself into a questionable bar, we were handed free drink tickets. Upon barely slithering up the stairs in our exhausted state to the second storey bar, we immediately sat down and I ordered my free TUI. There was dance music in the old fashioned Euro-trash sense. Anyhow...what can I say - the beer fit the locale. It was amber colored, bitter without character and...harsh is probably the best word for it. So, more importantly for this review to be worth a damn - what is a Tui? It is a bird of New Zealand - considered to be very intelligent, similar to parrots. So there you go - you learned 2 things. Don't bother with TUI the beer and don't have a chess match with Tui, the bird. Off you go now.