My ode to Beer

"Beer, for want of a better word, is good".

If Gordon Gecko, so wonderfully and malevolently played by Michael Douglas in the movie "Wall Street", was a kiwi, this is what he would say.

I like beer.

As I write this, I'm sipping away from a bottle of that amber gold. A rich, full bodied, yet delicately spiced East India pale ale. Its been 25-odd degrees with a gusty nor'west here in Canterbury and come the end of the working day I found myself parched. From midday onwards, I dreamed about that first bottle. And at 5.15 this evening, I wasn't disappointed. It was lovely. Chilled to within an inch of cryogenic perfection, the hssss as the cap was removed promised relief and satisfaction and by golly it delivered.

I'm not a yob, a bogan or an alchy. I'm not one of those people who wear long shorts and walk socks with pens in the top pocket of their short sleeved shirt who can describe the chemical process involved in the brewing to a cellular level. Nor am I one to decorated my house with beer posters and who consider "beer gear" the height of fashion and consider which beer one drinks to be directly related to their identity.

I just like beer. It tastes nice.

I like wine. Red's are my favorite although I don't mind a Sauvignon Blanc and can even spell sauvignon. I enjoy a fine whisky and will gladly wallop a bottle of vodka should the desire take me.

But for drinking with a couple of mates on a hot day, beer is great. It satisfies that immediate thirst and after a couple of bottles, leaves you feeling pretty good about life in general. If you have a couple of friends round, have a beer and shoot the breeze. It lasts a bit longer than wine because, being only 4%, you can have a couple and still be able to drive. And because so many New Zealanders drink it, it's a wonderful social lubricant. It's not as if you have one good bottle of beer and you become a social pariah whom the only person that thinks you are at all witty, charming and fun is yourself. If I have one "good" whisky, I'm best to organise a cab home from friends that will tolerate boorish behaviour. Moreover, and this is particularly relevant, I can have several beers and still type!

Nope. Beer is it. Cool, tasty and refreshing.

Beer is good.