A Hint of Gold for Tuatara

Way back in January, Tuatara Brewing Company decided to put aside our traditional Kiwi modesty and enter the Wellington Gold Awards.

These awards, now in their twelfth year, “seek those businesses, both large and small, that keep Wellington sparkling.” The snazzy website is not exaggerating – the list of previous winners does indeed resemble a “who’s who” of Wellington business, which made it all the more humbling to be recently named as a finalist.

We are one of five finalists in the Emerging Gold category – "Illuminating smaller enterprises which are shining beyond their size." Now, we are a pretty shiny little company but we are up against some very tough competition. The finalists are:

Dazzle Tickets	A fresh new event ticketing system
Pet Angels	Wellington’s largestpet care company
The Baby’s Room	A retail store and Australasian baby goods supplier
Tuatara Brewing Company	Producing craft beer from time honoured, traditional recipes
Yellow Brick Road	Moving those cooking seafood closer to those catching it

To put our challenge in context, the lovely Rachel from Yellow Brick Road not only sources some amazing fish, but she was a finalist in the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year 2010. In fact, some of us think she should have won.

The actual winners of the various Gold Awards will be announced at a black tie dinner on May 19. The biggest hurdle for the Tuatara crew may just turn out to be the formal dress code. Still, it is a great chance to continue to lift our profile and introduce our beers to more movers and shakers in Wellington business.

That’s certainly what happened when the Deloitte Fast 50 ranked us as the 39th fastest growing company in the country. Reporting on the launch event, Patrick Smellie from InBusiness Magazine started his article with the observation: "but what stayed with me, apart from a new love of Tuatara Ardennes Ale, was the clips of the winners saying when they get their best ideas. Here’s a secret: none of them said at work."

Wise words indeed – we will post details about some of our best ideas over the coming weeks.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara.

In Pursuit of the Perfect Pint

Tuatara is delighted to welcome Mike Neilson on board at our busy brewery. He has made a great start and we thought it would be a good idea for people to get to know him a little better. Here is what the man who is “in pursuit of the perfect pint” had to say:

Michael, what was your brewing experience before Tuatara?

I have been home brewing for a few years and got to the stage where I needed to do something different.

[Note: Michael is being quite modest: He won two gold medals, a silver and two bronzes at the 2009 SOBA National Homebrew Championships – the first homebrew competition he ever entered.]

What was your day job before you started brewing?

I was a sales rep for the Plaster Warehouse. Before that I was self-employed.

What do you think you will learn from your time at Tuatara?

To brew big! Basically, it is exactly the same as home brew but on a much larger scale. All the proper practices still apply no matter how big the brewery.

In terms of brewing, what do you bring to Tuatara?

I hope to get a chance to help in the development of new beers. I want to please people’s palates but also to test them.

Which is your favourite Tuatara beer to drink?

Tuatara Pale Ale, definitely.

Not including your own beers or the Tuatara range, what beers do you like to drink?

India Pale Ales – that’s my favourite style. Overall, it would be [Russian River] Pliny the Elder and Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. For Kiwi IPAs, it would have to be 8 Wired Hopwired.

Which Tuatara beer are you looking forward to making the most?

The next one!

So, what’s it like working for Carl Vasta?

Awesome - it’s just good to learn from him. What that man doesn’t know about brewing isn’t worth knowing.

Finally, thanks to all the predominately female Tuatara fans for their many phone calls, emails, text messages and tweets about obtaining a “Men of New Zealand Brewing” calendar featuring Tuatara’s own Carl Vasta. The calendar was promoted on the Malthouse blog and was, of course, an April Fool’s joke by our friends and part-owners there. Seriously, there is no calendar. Please stop calling!

Cheers from the team at Tuatara.