On Monday 10 May 2010, the Dominion Post reported that "for only the second time in more than 200 years, a baby tuatara has been spotted on the mainland, leading experts to believe there could be more breeding in Wellington. The rare reptiles are usually elusive, but staff at Wellington's wildlife sanctuary Zealandia say the newcomer has been causing a stir through its lack of shyness."
Although Tuatara Brewery is a decade older than this little reptile, we have been pretty shy and elusive at times, preferring instead to concentrate on brewing award-winning local beers and getting them out for sale. However, earlier this year we put aside our usual modesty and entered the Wellington Gold Awards. As noted in the last blog, we were delighted to be selected as a finalist in the emerging business category.
On Tuesday 11 May 2010, the Dominion Post did a piece on us headlined "Vat’s Gold – Tuatara a finalist in emerging section."
Here are some of the article highlights:
"It’s a nomination that has been brewing for 10 years. Tuatara Brewing Company is one of the five Emerging Gold Finalists for the Gold Awards, a category for firms that employ fewer than 10 people for most of the previous year, and who are ‘shining beyond their size…’ Tuatara Brewing still employs only six people, but has gone from a craft brewery supplying two Wellington pubs, to being an award-winning brewery that sends its products around New Zealand.
The company partnership started when Sean Murrie, who then owned the Malthouse pub and Bar Bodega, wanted a quality, consistent craft beer. He teamed up with Carl Vasta who had run Polar Brewery in Petone, and they started Tuatara at Reikorangi on the Kapiti Coast.
Mr Vasta, who apart from being the brewer was also the builder, plumber and electrician, made the brewery out of former dairy tanks, and that helped with the set-up costs. But it was also the pure Tarapua water that drew them to the coast, and that is the foundation of their six key beers.
A number of craft breweries have come and gone since Tuatara started. Mr Murrie says its survival has been due to always having a ready market through the two pubs, which as meant it has been able to build its fan base as the popularity of craft beers has grown.
“It’s taken a long time for the market to develop, and I think a lot of those small brewers who went away, if they had opened now they would probably be fine. There has been a lot of carnage bringing craft beer to New Zealand. Having said that, there are a lot of new ones that seem to keep opening, like the Yeastie Boys in Wellington, and Invercargill Brewery. They’re really good.”
The brewery has won awards for most of its six beers, including its India Pale Ale, Hefe and Pilsner labels, and once it gets things right it sticks with what works. “A lot of breweries muck around with their recipes. They get something that works and they get a bit bored and throw a few more hops in. I think it’s one of those classic mistakes that small businesses can make. People like how it was, and you think you’re improving it, and they’re going ‘well, no, you’re not.’”
Mr Murrie says his own favourite beer is the IPA but that could change, because the brewery is bringing out an American Pale Ale. They may be similar TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) but there is a world of difference between the beers. It is real Old World-New World Stuff, he says. The IPA is very hoppy, having been brewed in England to be sent out to India, with some extra hops thrown in to preserve it during the trip.
The APA was developed on the West Coast of the United States ("they’re at the forefront of cutting-edge brewing") and the APA has a huge amount of hops, but with plenty of fruit as well. "It mellows it out to make it an incredibly big flavour. It’s pretty much as big a beer as you can possibly get."
Tragically, the article is not up on the Stuff website – at least as far as this particular living dinosaur can tell – but fortunately a copy of the article has been ‘snapped’ by a person who is both a fan of technology and good beer. You can see the whole piece over at his site.
As for the title of the Dominion Post article, it appears that "Vat’s Gold" is a play on the "That’s Gold" catchphrase used occasionally on the NRL Footy Show. While we are not entirely sure how many readers will get that particular cultural reference, we certainly do appreciate the coverage.
Coming soon – more about the APA: what it tastes like, how it was made and when it will be launched.
Cheers from the team at Tuatara.
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