Speights Brewery Tour

subtitle: Things I will miss: Beer (slash wine) tastings and being really drunk really early, and it being relatively socially acceptable. 

The brewery tour was pretty cool. The best part was when I learned how barrels were made. It's a process most people probably already knew, but it was probably the only part of the tour besides the tastings which I found enjoyable. 

For those of you who don't know, at Speights, it starts with wood which has been imported from Siberia. Why Siberia, I don't know because there are massive amounts of trees here. Especially in the Southern Island. Why I didn't ask, I also don't know. 

Anyway, the boards are fat in the middle and skinny at the edges, and are smoothed on the inside and outside, although the edges are kept rough. Once one of the iron ring things is fitted, the whole contraption is steamed for an hour and a half. and then the planks can be bent and the second ring can be fitted. So sweet.

There was a pretty cool museum quality diorama of this, but of course I didn't take any pics of that. 

Other fun things I learned:

1. the origin of the term "skull it" which is akin to our "chug it." (From Vikings drinking beer from their enemy's skulls. Awesome.)

2. that monasteries often had breweries attached, and were the first to rate the quality of beer.

3. that Shakespeare's father was a beer quality assurance guy, and his job was to go to pubs, order a beer, pour it out on the bench and sit in it. If after a half hour Shakespeare Sr. was stuck to the bench, the beer was good. 

4. how to pour beer from the tap

family photo, me and Jenny

Other pics:

Some brewing equipment...

Captain Cook, who mapped NZ and also started the first brewery in NZ in order to prevent scurvy in his crew.

 Also of interest is the Southern Man ad campaign, which is a good example of unique NZ advertising and also is eerily similar to cigarette ads featuring cowboys. Youtube it.