Thirsty Critters feature article in the Courier Mail
September 3, 2010
Thirsty Critters was featured in a fantastic article in the Courier Mail today! I have reproduced it in full below, and a scan of the print article is at the bottom. Many special thanks to the Courier Mail’s beer writer, Rory Gibson, for the wonderful words, and to Matt Kirkegaard for the photo.
I’m a father, and I have had a sizeable volume of burnt toast force-fed to me in bed because of it.
That’s what happens on Father’s Day… you lie in bed, fingers crossed for a treat, and instead you get crumbs.
Let me break it to you gently, kids – forget the toast, can the socks and ditch the undies, your dad wants something that doesn’t make him feel likr he is in a remake of The Brady Bunch.
What he wants is something that makes him feel like he is starring in a remake of The Wild Bunch.
Something like a Thirsty Critters tour would certainly do the trick (www.thirstycritters.com.au).
This neat little business based in Brisbane was fathered by Peter Luetjens (pictured) about a year ago and has since grown into a healthy toddler, ferrying small busloads of beer lovers around some of the growing number of craft breweries operating in southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
Peter, 30, had the idea of doing boutique brewery tours when he drove up to Mount Tamborine one day to visit the MT Brewery and left frustrated that he couldn’t sample more of the tasty beers made there because of the car keys in his pocket.
Trouble is he now drives the bus so he still hasn’t found a way to enjoy all the beers on offer.
“I thought there was a gap in the market for this type of tour, so I quit my job (in advertising) to give it a red-hot go,” Peter says.
Thirsty Critters offers two main tours, but can also tailor the journey to suit the clients.
The Byron Bay-Mount Tamborine circuit – taking in a visit to three breweries in two states in one day – is the most popular, but not by much. It costs $145 per head, including lunch.
The other one, a Brisbane-Mount Tamborine tour ($120 a head with lunch), takes in two breweries, a winery and a distillery. Both can take up to 11 people.
Breweries visited can include the Stone & Wood Brewery in Byron Bay and the MT Brewery at Mount Tamborine, both of which make terrific beer that is often hard to obtain, adding to the appeal of the tours.
“When I first started I told myself that if I could do two tours a month I would be happy, and I have achieved that,” Peter says.
“I have no marketing budget so I have to rely solely on word-of-mouth. My aim now is to do three a month.”
Highlights of the tour include being shown the beer-making process from go to whoa by one of the brewers and pouring yourself the freshest beer you will ever drink, straight out of the maturation tanks.
Thirsty Critters isn’t a glorified taxi service for people wanting to do a long-distance pub crawl.
“The clients so far have been pretty evenly divided between people who already know a lot about beer and want to see what these craft breweries are doing, or people who are just starting out with their beer education and are keen to learn more,” Peter says.
It’s not just for the dads either. Plenty of women go on these tours, in line with the growing curiousity about beer that has seen an explosion in attendances at beer and food matching events and tastings in the past few years.
So, kids, make sure you remember that when Mother’s Day rolls around in May.
Bitter vs Lager: A rant from David Mitchell
September 2, 2010
British comedian David Mitchell is a little unfamiliar to Australians, unless you’ve ever caught his brilliant comedy series Peep Show, or seen his occassional appearance on QI. He is brilliantly funny in that self-deprecating, nerdy, but incredibly intelligent way that only very few comedians pull off. And here, in this great short video, he expounds on his love of bitter, and it’s dominance over lager – and particularly his pet peeve, ‘creamy’ lager. Enjoy!
“Creamy… that’s a good word… a heritage word!”
