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.