AT the end of June the New Zealand beer consumer group the Society of Beer Advocates, or S.O.B.A. for short, successfully held their first beer festival.
The Matariki Winter Ales Festival was held at The Boatshed on the Waterfront to celebrate winter beer styles. The festival set out to provide a warm social environment where good beer and good food could be enjoyed together. I think the festival achieved its aim perfectly, with 250 people enjoying good beer responsibly. Unlike some beer festivals where the organisers feel the need to pipe loud pumping music into every space, S.O.B.A. created the perfect environment for the sociable enjoyment of craft beer where conversation reigned. I provided the food and set out to raise the culinary standard of the fare that usually gets served at beer festivals. I created three slow cooked dishes using free-range meat, home grown herbs and fresh vegetables. The brewers more than kept their side up providing 20 high quality beers many of which were winter seasonal releases. Personal stand outs for me included Golden Bay’s Townshend Dubloon, a strong bitter which featured a big rich malt body with a long hoppy finish. Also from Golden Bay came Golden Bear Winter Ale, which was a vibrantly hoppy amber ale, and all the way from Oregon came Rogue John John – perhaps the best balanced barrel aged beer I have ever had. The event went off without a hitch with no licensing issues and no problems with intoxication, proving what I have always believed: that craft beer encourages responsible drinking. S.O.B.A. are using the inaugural festival as a template for future festivals, I can’t wait!