No matter how well written a piece about beer is, it can't really give you the taste of a beer. Beer writing is more about preaching to the choir than bringing in new converts so I try spend more time putting beer in people's hands than writing about it. In a country that prides itself on the role beer plays in its national identity, it is often amazing how limited our knowledge of beer is.
While there are a lot of people working to change this, the man who has had the biggest impact on getting people to think a little differently about beer is Chris Badenoch...as in Chris from Masterchef as he is more commonly known these days.
Chris made the top 3 of what I gather was Australia's highest rating, non-sport television show and he did it with a fairly unique approach to food - not least because he cooked with beer and matched his meals to beer as well.
Since the show finished, Chris has been flat out with beer events, both due to his fame from Masterchef and also his main project, BeerMasons, which I have written about previously. He was in town last weekend and so we joined forces to hold a beer tasting raise some money for a charity close to Chris' heart - the Royal Children's Hospital Music Therapy Unit. We featured an exciting range of beers from the Innspire range including Flying Dog, Rogue and Nogne O, had a great time and managed to raise over $1100 for the charity.
The crowd at the tasting was widely varied, but all were interested in both Chris and the beers - and Chris was very generous in his time speaking to everyone who wanted to meet him. It's great to see Chris using his fame to promote the cause of great beer (and raising money for charity). Beer needs more ambassadors and fewer marketers.