Namely, we're lucky to have a handful of craft breweries (the beer version of wine estates) producing a quality product in these parts. Two of them, Hawke's Bay Independent Brewery and Zeelandt Brewery, triumphed at the 8th annual Brewers Guild annual awards in Wellington last week, winning six and one medal respectively.
Thanks to these breweries, and pioneers like Chris, the days of watery session beers are but a distant memory. And kudos too to the local pubs - unfettered by allegiances to the big breweries - that offer taps to these smaller artisans.
The next step, surely, is to grow hops in this province. If it's good enough for Nelson, with its comparable climate, it's good enough for us.
Locally grown hops would afford the region's beer enthusiasts the right to brag as proudly about provenance as their grape counterparts.
When all the raw ingredients are ours, the product goes down much smoother.
What a luxury it'd be, as a province, to become a destination for both grape and grain.
