A Queenstown woman is fuming after being told she could enter a home brew competition – but because she’s female, her beer won’t be judged.
Rachel Beer told Queenstown’s Mountain Scene newspaper that she found out the Lake Hayes A&P Show beer brewing contest was “blokes only” when she tried to enter her tipple, ‘Beer’s Beer’.
The chief steward advised Ms Beer that while she could enter the competition, her beer wouldn’t be judged, which she says means there’s “no point entering”.
“Who cares if I have or haven’t got balls… at the end of the day a home brew is a home brew,” she says.
“There’s no point entering a beer if it’s not going to be judged whether it’s gold or mud.”
Show president Mike Smith says he “didn’t even know there was a brewing competition” and doesn’t want to comment on whether the rule is sexist.
He says he’s “sure the show can make room for it in the next round” and suggests Beer makes a proposal to the committee to have a women’s or mixed section introduced.
A Human Rights Commission spokesperson says the show may be breaching the Human Rights Act, but without a complaint they are unable to comment further.
Ms Beer doesn’t intend to complain – she says she thinks the show is “fantastic” but the rules of the competition need to be updated “to meet modern times”.
“It’s more just the principle of the matter… I would love to enter in the competition with the males, as there are some mighty talented home-brew gents out there who I’d love to compete with.”
3 News
source: newshub archive
