Tuatara finally migrates south

BY GEOFF GRIGGS

One of the problems small Kiwi manufacturers face when wishing to distribute their products nationwide is Cook Strait can be a very expensive stretch of water.

For craft brewers in particular, the cost of sending something as heavy and bulky as beer between the islands can often be prohibitive.

Take Tuatara Brewery, for example. Although the Waikanae brewery first fired its kettles nine years ago and has since received a hatful of awards (including the Champion Brewery trophy at last year's BrewNZ), until recently its delightful beers have been virtually impossible to find in the South Island.

Happily, that situation has now been resolved.

The timing couldn't be better: last month, the brewery achieved double success on the latest Deloitte Fast 50 list. Tuatara was named as the fastest-growing manufacturing business in the lower North Island region and the 39th fastest-growing business in New Zealand overall.

The brewery can trace its history back to the 1980s when, while travelling in London, Kiwi Carl Vasta discovered "beer didn't have to be flat or tasteless or come in a flagon". Inspired by the beers he'd tasted in England, he returned to New Zealand and was less impressed with the local brews.

"You come back and there's one beer on tap, a lager in the fridge, and an imported one a year old and the price of a keg."

Carl then started home-brewing and studying books on beer. Following his first commercial brewing position at Lower Hutt's once famous Parrot&Jigger brew pub, he started his own brewery in the back of the Petone Working Men's Club. He wanted to brew specialty beer styles but the club's focus was on low-cost beer, so he sold the brewery to a company in Perth and travelled there to set it up for them.

After a period as a brewing consultant in Australia, he returned to New Zealand.

Having set up home on a farm in the foothills of the Tararuas Carl gathered together some dairy tanks and "some equipment he had lying around" and set up a small lifestyle brewery. He then combined forces with two Wellington publicans, the Tuatara Brewing Company was formed and Carl began brewing beer in 1200-litre batches.

In 2007, as a result of increasing sales, a new German-designed brewhouse and additional fermenters were installed, giving Tuatara a capacity of more than 35,000 litres and making it one of New Zealand's largest craft breweries.

All six Tuatara beers are highly recommended.

A good example of yeast influence is Tuatara Hefe (5 per cent), a cloudy wheat beer (hefeweizen) that showcases the classic banana and bubble gum notes of the South German style. Another is Tuatara Ardennes, a potent (6.5 per cent) golden ale with the distinctive spicy (clove and vanilla) signature of a Belgian abbey beer.

Tuatara Munich Helles (5 per cent) is an easy-drinking, malt accented, golden lager and Tuatara Porter (5 per cent) is full bodied and smooth, with chocolate, coffee and caramel flavours. Tuatara Bohemian Pilsner (5 per cent) is crisp and clean – New Zealand hops (the Motueka variety) rewarding the beer with a delightful herbal, citrus freshness.

With its firm toffee and caramel notes, gentle fruitiness and satisfyingly bitter finish, Tuatara India Pale Ale (5 per cent) always makes me think of happy times whiled away in English pubs. Although I'm a great fan of the beer, its character and intensity of flavour often comes as a complete surprise to those whose misunderstanding of the IPA style has been influenced by a certain well-known mainstream brand with an orange label.

Cheers!

- The Marlborough Express