Lighthouse Brewery
Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 9:46PM 
Dick Tout from Lighthouse Brewery
From the NZ Craft Beer TV journal entry, 30/1/11:
Dick Tout is a real character. A smile from ear to ear and a big, manly handshake greet us as we arrive at Lighthouse Brewery in Nelson. The first thing Dick asks us is if we want a beer or a hot drink or a refreshment of some kind. There must be something in the water because Dick also has a real gleam in his eyes. His passion is instantly recognisable and straight away it’s apparent how much Dick loves his job. This is one of the smallest commercial breweries in the country and with a brew kit size of only 200 litres, I’d love to know how many times Dick has brewed on it since beginning in 1996.
He chatted away about brewing, his beers, car racing and his classic cars and boats. A former mechanic, Dick was as passionate about cars and his restoration of a couple of old boats as he was about brewing. We tucked in to the first beer, Summer Breeze, a well-hopped NZ style pilsner with a lovely Saaz hop edge and the finest hint of diacetyl. Dick told us of his worry with the diacetyl that his kit seemed to give the beer but Luke and I disagreed. This was just on flavour threshold and actually added something to the beer. I’m really sensitive to diacetyl, so it was interesting that I really liked this beer. Something about the balance of freshness and bitterness and the tiniest hint of toffee/butter added complexity to this great drop.
Dick’s Cheeky Little Lager was up next, a great, easy drinking example of the style and we sipped our way through his 5.5% Victory Ale with its English character prominent and Dick’s Dark, a rich, malty 4.5% beer with hints of chocolate and equal parts of floral hop and slight roastiness. The great thing about Dick is that he also loves cooking. As he described each beer he told us of his experience of drinking it at home with a meal and discovering how well it worked with the food. From salmon steaks, to Nelson Scallops in garlic butter, through to peppered steak and beef mince dishes, Dick was a wealth of knowledge, interspersing his chatter with jokes and cheeky quips.
My favourite beer of Dick’s was the Classic Stout. This 5% rich, dark, creamy stout had lovely hop notes and had massive flavour for a beer of this strength. Wafts of chocolate were abound and it was an amazing beer to finish the tasting on.
