Born in Wellington, Rod was once a reporter on the Evening Post, and then had a career in ACC. He found that his wife had a connection with the Guinness family, became interested in the family history and subsequently researched and wrote a book on the Guinness story. He has told his story to a number of Rotary clubs.
Guinness learned to brew ale at his step-mother's inn in the 17thCentury, the ale being deemed healthier than the local Liffy water. In 1759 he began to brew a stout which became very popular, and when England relaxed its import and excise taxes he exported to England and became prosperous. (His family supported England in the 1799 Uprisings.) Guinness was obviously good for him and his wife as they had nineteen children.
Once brewed, the stout was kept in casks for a year and then exported in concentrate form to minimise the excise. Once bottling was developed it was exported all over the world. Scions of the family came to Tasmania in 1824 and to Nelson in 1850. The brew found an eager market among the Irish diaspora and soon became popular. Now, 9 million glasses are drunk every day in over fifty countries. (The family later sold the business to a Mr. Putting.)
A member of the family, Michael Burke, came to New Zealand in 1852 and became a pastoralist. Burke's Pass was named after him and his name is also in Pyne Gould Guinness, an agricultural services firm. Guinness was brewed at Mangatainoka from 1864.
Guinness used to be 7-8% proof (a Steinlager is 5%) but is now 4.8%. It continues to be popular in NZ and has also proved popular at Scott Base, especially with American visitors from McMurdo Sound.
Rod presented a copy of his book, “Guinness Down Under” to the club, and copies can be bought directly from him.
After the talk it was revealed that one current member’s first alcoholic drink as a teenager was two pints of Guinness, and it produced a severe hangover.
Another member recalled setting an undergraduate record for drinking 5 pints in three hours from a horn-type glass. (The horn came from an Italian monastery which the monks used to drink from by passing it around at the communal table.) The catch was that the second to last person to finish it had to pay - think about it!. He has not touched Guinness since.
Another member once drank eleven pints in one evening and lived to tell the tale.
