Tuatara on Show – Brewery Tours and the Online Store

At Tuatara, we are very proud of the award-winning beers we brew. We are also happy to show people where they are all made.

Groups are welcome for brewery tours and tastings but be sure to call or email well in advance to organise them. There may also be a small charge to cover costs.

Notice is required because we have to ensure our busy brewers are available to show you around and talk through the processes and the products. Also, we need to put the sign out at the front gate or chances are you will drive right by us. The Tuatara Brewery, like its reptilian namesake, is well-camouflaged to the untrained eye.

On Saturday 20 March we were delighted to host a big, enthusiastic group from the Society of Beer Advocates SOBA. SOBA supports "beer for all right reasons" and many SOBA members are long-time friends of the brewery. Tell you what, those guys know their beer and asked some pretty tough technical questions.

We also had a television camera crew and celebrity chef in the other day but details of that particular project will have to wait for now. Suffice to say that Tuatara will hopefully be starring on the small screen both here and in Australia later in the year. All the details will be posted here just as soon as they are confirmed.

Even if you can’t make it to the brewery in picturesque Waikanae, you can still show the world that you have excellent taste in beer. The Tuatara on-line store is now open and selling stylish t-shirts, classy glasses and fully-functional bottle openers. Tuatara is the new black.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara.

Dion our Brewer is Stepping Down

As announced in last week’s post, Dion Page has finished up at Tuatara Breweries in order to spend some more time with his young family. Before we let him go, we asked a few questions about his time at Tuatara and his plans for the future.

Dion, how long did you work at Tuatara?

Just over two years. I never really had a job title, brewer I think!

What was your brewing experience before Tuatara?

I trained at a 1,150 litre brewpub called The Franciscan Well in Cork, Ireland. It was quite similar in size to the old Tuatara brewery. The pub only served the five beers we made, two wines (nasty red and nasty wine in single serve bottles), a few bottles of imported beer and maybe six optics behind the bar. People only really ordered pints. It was hardcore - no singing, no dancing, no straws, no shots, no cocktails.

What was your job before you started brewing?

I was the editor in a legal publishing company. It was five years ago but it seems like a lifetime. I feel so disassociated with it now.

What was the best thing you learned during your time at Tuatara?

Basically, I learned how to be really hands on and use what is available. It is all about working with what you have got. The Franciscan Well was bought as a package so everything was standard sizes and fitted properly. Tuatara has a bit of a mish-mash of tanks and pipes of varying sizes. It pushed me to make good beer under limited circumstances. To make good beer you need a good brewer, good ingredients and good plant. I remember there was one piece of equipment that it took me fifty brews before I finally realised the best way to use it. Carl’s very hands on – if it doesn’t work, he will fix it or find a replacement from the ‘side shed’.

In your opinion, what is the worst job in the brewery?

Well, everyone hates kegs cleaning because it is really monotonous. I always took the approach that you had to do it properly. I don’t want to do all the work brewing in the preceding six weeks only to throw it all away by scrimping it on keg cleaning time. The worst part for me was driving to the brewery – it took me two hours and twenty minutes a day.

Which was you favourite Tuatara beer to make?

Tuatara Hefe because I didn’t have to filter it! The irony is that I don’t drink wheat beers at all. I’m not a fan of cloves, I would never eat them and that’s all I get off a hefe. Most people don’t realise there is a lot to filtration. It’s quite an involved process. I’m confident that I haven’t let a cloudy one out - apart from the Hefe of course!

Which is your favourite Tuatara beer to drink?

Tuatara IPA – definitely.

What are you up to now?

Well, the plan was to sit on my arse and watch Days of Our Lives! That plan has been scuppered. I’m looking after the family, dropping people off, cooking the dinner, training for a marathon and doing the odd bit of work. I’m a very busy unemployed guy!

Will you back in brewing?

Oh yeah - I’m just taking a break!

We wish Dion all the best.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

A New Beginning for the ‘It’s All About the Beer’ Blog

It is a new era at the Official Tuatara Blog. Between August 2009 and February 2010, we managed just two blog posts. Granted, they were both excellent pieces introducing Tuatara Helles, the first new beer to join our range in three years, and a behind-the-scenes look at the founding of Tuatara way back in 2000/2001.

The intention now is to provide shorter updates every week about a Tuatara-related topic. It could be new faces in the team, shiny equipment at the brewery, some fresh ingredients, new beers (because there are some on the way), events, tours, special offers, tastings, new outlets, what others are saying about us or just general Tuatara gossip.

Wellington has enjoyed a hectic and surprisingly sunny start to the year with The Sevens, Fringe Festival, Round the Bays, Phoenix, AC/DC, International Arts Festival and the occasional tsunami alert.

That fun certainly continued last weekend at the New Zealand Beer Festival held in Westpac Stadium on Saturday. The Auckland festival was a great event earlier in the year but Wellingtonians turned out in force on a beautiful sunny day.

There were some long queues at our stall but we would expect nothing less from our home town crowd. The festival looks set to become an annual tradition and it was a huge night back at the Malthouse afterwards too.

This past week there was some big news at the brewery. We had to bid a fond farewell to brewer Dion Page after several years of sterling service at Tuatara. He is taking a well-earned break to spend more time with his young family. We wish him the very best and will be getting his thoughts about his time at Tuatara for a future post.

To replace Dion, Tuatara is pleased to announce that multi award-winning home brewer Michael Neilson will be joining the team. We are tremendously excited about having Michael on board and he will also be profiled on the blog shortly.

We would love to hear what you think about the ‘new’ blog so leave a comment below or drop us an email at the office.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara.