The Epitomy of Southerness
Speight's gold medal ale (or just Speight's) is the one true symbol for New Zealand's South. In New Zealand folklore, every man and woman living south of Canterbury over the age of 18 drinks nothing but Speight's, morning, day and night. Nobody touches the stuff north of that magic border, apart from some exil - southlanders living in Auckland.
The commercials portrait the classic speight's drinker as some sort of redneck - cowboy with a vocabulary of ca. 30 words, most of them "good on ya" and grunts, living in the vast emptyness that is central Otago and drinking the above mentioned brew after a hard days work chasing sheep.
The beer itself is a rather weak version of the classic british ale, with a meekly four percent alcohol on board and a bland, watery palate. Nevertheless no concerning student at the University of Otago would like to be seen without one, because drinking anything else would be unpatriotic (Speight's brewery supports the local rugby team.
Have a go and try it yourself, but I would suggest that you rather get used to some of the rather excellent microbreweries, like Wanaka Beerworks or Emerson's.
2 1/2 out of five Heisenberg Beer Stars
Cheers!