Craft Beer and The Cursed Sword

Craft Beer?

OK, bear with me. This sounds odd, and it is a bit, but this is about how your life filters through your psyche and into your writing.

I live in the Hutt Valley, just outside Wellington, New Zealand, and in case you didn’t know, Wellington is the centre of craft beer in NZ. There are several craft beers breweries, some small and some large. In the Hutt there are three very successful craft beer breweries, Panhead, Kereru and Boneface, and in Wellington there are approximately  eight breweries – Garage Project, Tuatara, Parrot Dog, Fortune Favours, Whistling Sisters,  Fork and Brewer, Black Dog, and some I’ve missed – sorry. And there are also many craft beer pubs! And I like beer, which is fortunate.

So the beers range from the startlingly hoppy to the not-so-hoppy, malty, fruity, double IPAs, red IPAs, stouts and porters, and then sour beers. And I’m sure many others. So it’s no wonder a few beers have ended up in The Cursed Sword.

Why are they in my book?

It wasn’t until my mother said something about, “What is it with all these beers?” that I even realised they’d crept in. And one of our favourite haunts and craft beer bars – Hashigo Zake – has become the Smuggler’s Retreat. However, there is nothing dodgy about HZ or its clientele, although the bar is downstairs below street level. I think the Smuggler’s Retreat is also influenced by The Malthouse, another pub on Courtenay Place. Their back wall is filled with craft beers – it’s quite staggering!

So what beers are in The Cursed Sword? Arthur’s favourite is the Red Earth Thunder Ale – clearly a red IPA, a bit malty, a bit hoppy. He has a stash at New Camelot.

Tom’s Cervini friends are sipping Dryad’s Pride at the tournament – a porter, very dark with a strong taste – enough to “put hairs on your chest,” as Rek says.

When Tom and co. are in Dragon’s Hollow they end up in the Smuggler’s Retreat,  and are overwhelmed with the range of beers on display. Tom ends up sampling Nymph’s Nectar,  a pale ale.

Pubs feature strongly too – I’m English. There’s the Quarter Way House in The Silver Tower, where Red Earth Thunder Ale first appeared – see, it was already creeping in there. The Dragon’s Tale is also in Dragon’s Hollow, but I don’t mention another beer. What a missed opportunity!

So now I know I’m doing it, I’m on a mission to name more pubs and beers. Tom  4 will be fun!

I you’d like to read The Cursed Sword, check out the page on my website – https://tjgreenauthor.com/books/galatines-curse/

And of course, my giveaway’s still running! Click here to enter – Giveaway