Sons continue brewing tradition
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Matt Duncan has brewing in his blood. Along with his brother Callum, Matt represents the sixth generation of brewers in a Nelson family which can trace its lineage back to the region's first brewer.
Today the Duncan family is probably New Zealand's oldest and only continuous brewing family.
It was 1854 when Joseph Dodson arrived in New Zealand from Australia and began brewing in Nelson. Joseph's daughter married Robert Duncan and the two families owned and operated a brewery in Nelson until 1969 when, after merging with Harley's, the other Nelson brewer, the company became a subsidiary of Dominion Breweries, now DB Breweries.
Thirty years later Matt's father John Duncan opened Founders Brewery in the city's Founders Historic Park. With a decade of experience at Nelson's Mac's brewery, John was aware of the public's growing interest in "naturally brewed" beers and decided to take his own beers to the next level. When it opened in 1999 Founders was the first fully certified organic brewery in the southern hemisphere and one of only six in the world.
Aside from its organic status, the brewery also has a kosher certificate and the beers are GE free. Extended conditioning and maturation avoids the necessity for the fish or egg-based clarifying agents, so the beers are also suitable for vegans.
These days the three brewing Duncans John, Callum and Matt craft a range of five fulltime beers as well as occasional short run, tap only, specialties in their compact 1200-litre brewhouse. The beers show exemplary balance and drinkability and the brewery has won more than 50 medals and trophies in just 10 years of trading; an excellent achievement.
Having twice been judged Champion small brewery at the Australian International Beer Awards the world's third largest competition perhaps Founders' most prestigious accolade came at BrewNZ in 2002 when it won the Morton Coutts trophy for brewing innovation.
As John Duncan gradually hands over the brewing reins to his sons, Founders has responded to the market's increasing thirst for more robust styles. The first of these, Fair Maiden Ale, was introduced in 2007 and was designed and brewed by Matt.
The beer's name works on several levels: `Fair' being another word for pale the beer is an American-style pale ale, and `maiden' because it was Matt's first solo brewing project. The bottle label depicts the fair maiden as the figurehead on a ship and this, too, is appropriate: aside from brewing, Matt's other great passion is sailing.
Fair Maiden pours an appetising, bright amber to bronze hue beneath an off-white head. The aroma and palate are full of sweet tropical fruit and citrus notes with a hint of grassiness that's typical of Motueka hops. A range of pale and caramelised malts produces a luscious mouthfeel and there's an early toffeeish sweetness that gradually fades as the dryness of the hops emerges. It's a full-flavoured brew that's best paired with crumbly, mature English cheeses and cold meats.
The Founders beers are widely distributed within New Zealand and have even been exported as far as Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong and Korea, but my favourite place to enjoy them is sitting on the sunny patio outside the brewery's cafe bar on a warm Nelson afternoon.
Cheers!
- The Marlborough Express
