New Zealand beer consumption averages 80 litres per head a year, but community leaders in the North Island town of Masterton object to brewing experiments in a school science class, according to a newspaper report on Friday.
The head of Masterton police, John Johnston, said pupils at elite, fee-charging Rathkeale College should be making ginger beer if they wish to study fermentation, and the school risks breaking the law if it allows pupils to take their brew home, according to the Dominion Post.
Masterton deputy mayor Rod McKenzie said he was surprised that Rathkeale pupils were allowed to brew beer.
But college principal Neville Duckmanton said the brewing experiments were strictly controlled and the tops were never taken from the bottles.
Parents were allowed to pick up the beer if they wished to, otherwise it was thrown out. — Sapa-DPA