Tim Ward (No Relation)

Tim is a cat I've known for quite a few years - he's the man behind many of the venues I like to drink in. Places like Good Luck and the San Fran Bathhouse in Wellington. The latter venue is probably solely responsible for much of the hearing loss I'm encountering now in my twilight years.

In all that time I have never seen Tim out of sorts, he's always got a smile on his dial this dude. Always embarking on a new challenge. Always on the move. Bouncing round projects like an accelerated particle in a quantum chamber.

Recently I found myself caught up in Tims orbit as he took me on a tour of his latest wonderful endeavour - The Abandoned Brewery. The story behind this project is so Kiwi it hurts. In a nutshell, a chap in the grip of drunken hubris bought himself all the equipment to set up a brewery. Then he lost interest. Tim and his mates discovered this abandoned brewery and decided to make a go of it. I love tales like this. They now supply many places around town with their fine beverages. Tim, more often than not, dropping off a kegs to them in his beaten up (but much-loved) ute. Bars, bowling clubs and select venues all happily stock this uniquely Wellington creation.

This year I attended Beervana and there was Tim with his wonderfully crazy stand (it looked like a cross between a mad scientist's lab and a control room at a Russian power station). I was swaying back and forth holding some generic stout from one of the other stands. Tim took a sip of it and, with an expression that said "I think Nick can do better than this", he tipped it out and replaced it with a glass of the Abandoned Brewery stout. Smooth, velvety and lovingly crafted the difference was day and a very dark stormy night. Tim replaced it with no fuss or fanfare and he didn't even wait for me to say anything but I'll say it now - you could taste the difference and that difference was: someone really cared about this beer.

This was made with love not with an eye on the bottom line.

That's something that's always been true of Tim, while he's very successful in his projects it's not because he's some kind of high-flying businessman, it's simply because he cares about what he does. He never compromises and he does it all with a smile on his face (even though sometimes that face looks very, very tired). Tim is one of those people it's a joy to be around because he makes it all look so easy but still ensures you're smiling as much as he is. There's something we can all learn from that. Next time you're in Wellington seek out a beer from the Abandoned Brewery and you'll see what I mean. Chur Tim you're a GC.