New New New

In news which will no doubt sweep across the interwebs like Google buying Facebook, Tuatara is pleased to announce we have a new home for our blog. Please head over to www.tuatarabrewing.co.nz for our latest blog post and snazzy new website. Cheers Blogspot, and cheers to you our reader and cheers, to good beer. Tuatara

New home away from home for Tuatara

There has been a great deal of interest in the announcement that a new brewpub will open in Wellington’s Bond Street before the Rugby World Cup. The yet-to-be-named establishment will be located in the upstairs premises at 14 Bond Street which previously housed ventures such as Syn Bar, the Ruby Lounge and even the old Loaded Hog.

The driving forces behind this exciting development are Sean Murrie and Colin Mallon who are both involved in Tuatara and the Malthouse. They announced on 16 May that they had sufficient investors – a number of whom already have a stake in Tuatara – and had acquired the site.

Work is already underway with Sean saying “our designers have been extremely busy and, as a team, we already have a very clear idea of what our yet-to-be-named bar will look and feel like.” It is going to be an extensive re-fit (estimated at around $1 million) and the result should be a spacious (460 square metres) venue with a range of areas and atmospheres.

While there will be around 40 beers on tap, most of the beery attention has focused on the state-of-the-art 1,000 litre brewery which will be installed on the premises and supply much of the draft beer.

In addition to producing a range of house craft beers, Colin Mallon says the on-site brew kit will “allow us to create a range of collaborative and speciality brews with Tuatara Brewery along with like-minded visiting brewers.” He says it is a hugely exhilarating opportunity to bring brewing back to the heart of the Capital and it would also be a point of difference for the bar.

Collaborative brews are intensely popular at the moment and Colin is already drawing up a ‘dream team’ list of brewers they would love to work with. Tuatara brewer Carl Vasta is top of that list and we know he already has quite a few ideas he is desperate to try out. The new venue hopes to lure in top brewers from New Zealand and overseas to produce an ever-changing range of unique, limited-edition brews.

It is not just about the beer though. There will be particular attention paid to producing high quality pub food from the spacious kitchens (well, spacious compared to the Malthouse…)

The new brewpub – whatever it is called - is going to be an exciting development and we can’t wait for the doors to be thrown open and the first pint to be pulled. Best of luck chaps!

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara Strikes Gold

Each year, the Wellington Gold Awards recognise the very best in Wellington business. Run in association with the Dominion Post, they have become the region’s premier business awards. Last year, we were delighted to be selected as a finalist in the Emerging Gold (smaller enterprises) category. On May 18 2011, we went one better when Tuatara Brewing Company won the Emerging Gold award.

To do so, we had to compete against a worthy group of finalists - Celcius Coffee, Corner Solutions International, Shott Beverages and Urban Harvest. Congratulations to them for their success in reaching the finals. Our thanks also go to the Dominion Post for supporting the awards and the ANZ for sponsoring our category.

The eleven Wellington Gold awards were presented over the course of a (very) long glitzy gala event at the TSB arena. The overall winner was Mesynthes, the company which developed a hi-tech, stable tissue substitute to help people with burns or severe skin conditions. They also won the Discovering Gold category which recognised the best research and development work. Wellington business legend Lloyd Morrison was also recognised in a tribute.

Director Sean Murrie accepted the Emerging Gold award on behalf of the Tuatara team. Our category was one of the first to be announced and Sean had barely sat down before being called up on stage to accept the prize. Looking very sharp in his rarely seen suit, he delivered a succinct speech thanking the staff, customers and judges for the company’s continued success. It would turn out to be one of the shortest speeches of the evening by a considerable margin.

Speaking after the event, Sean said he believed the award was based on a number of inter-linked aspects of the company. He felt the judges were impressed by the fast growth rate of Tuatara, significant increases both in production and distribution, a boost in staff numbers, greater customer awareness of the brand, a move into exporting and positive media coverage, all achieved while keeping the beer quality high.

So, we are delighted with the award which will take pride of place at Tuatara HQ. We want to thank all our customers and suppliers who are the heroes of our organisation – without you guys this never would have been possible. We cannot enter Emerging Gold again so next year we may need to have a little look round and see if there is another category we might compete in – watch this space.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Sponsoring the next generation of Tuatara

Like most people, we are very fond of the humble Tuatara – those uniquely New Zealand reptiles which are the sole survivors of an order which all but died out over 200 million years ago.

It was this Kiwi pluckiness which inspired us to take up the name for our brewery and to use images of real Tuatara in our (by necessity limited) marketing and advertising campaigns.

As such, we feel it is important we give something back to our scaly friends. Tuatara Brewing Company has been a long-term supporter of Zealandia – the Kaori Sanctuary Experience – and their long-term efforts to protect and nurture the still endangered Tuatara.

Zealandia’s flash website notes that Tuatara “were extinct from the mainland since the late 1700s until they were released into ZEALANDIA in 2005. A total of 200 have been transferred. Evidence of breeding was recorded in November 2007 and the first hatchling was spotted in March 2009 - an extremely significant breakthrough in the restoration of this species on the mainland.”

Regular readers of this blog will recall that we also helped present a beer and food matching event to celebrate the first baby’s second birthday.

Now, Tuatara Brewing Company has taken things one step further and become the official sponsor of the new Tuatara hatcheries which are currently being built and nearing completion in Zealandia. The importance of those hatcheries for the eleven juvenile Tuatara who will live there cannot be over-stated. Unfortunately, young Tuatara need protection from adult Tuatara who are actually quite inclined to eat them!

Of course, we are not the only ones to link the reptiles with the brewery. Our friends at WellingtonNZ did a pretty amazing job in this 15-second ad which speculates that Lonely Planet may have dubbed Wellington the Coolest Little Capital in the World because of the Tuatara at Zealandia and/or the Tuatara at the Malthouse.

We are not necessarily claiming all the credit but we do know for sure that the author of the Lonely Planet section on Wellington did a beer tasting at the Malthouse and became a bit of a Tuatara Pilsner fan subsequently… we are just saying…

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

The Great Tuatara Tap Hunt – The Tuatara Triangle

One of the main functions of this blog is to highlight some of the exceptionally cool venues which have made the decision to stock our beers. At Tuatara, we acknowledge that, because of the way our industry runs, making that choice is not always as easy as it should be in an ideal world, and there can be some costs or lost incentives involved.

This week, we are looking at three venues all within a 100m (or so) radius in central Wellington – D4, One Red Dog and the Featherston. We have dubbed this area “The Tuatara Triangle.”

D4 is upstairs at 143 Featherston Street. It is named after the Irish postcode Dublin 4 and is billed as “a leading Wellington Irish Bar/Pub and high quality restaurant.” Their website describes the place as “an intimate open plan setting, nestled above the bustle of the capital's beating heart. From the hot pink velvet staircase to the bespoke Kanemail chandelier, D4 brings understated elegance to the culture capital. Service is efficient but discreet, cooking, invariably excellent and D4 presents great value for money.”

They currently have six Tuatara beers on tap – all of them apart from the Ardennes which, given the hot pink stairs, may be wise. As a match, try a baker’s dozen of their new hot and spicy chicken wings with celery and ranch dressing accompanied by a quenching Tuatara Pilsner.

A block or so away on the ocean side is One Red Dog Queens Wharf. They describe themselves “the newest edition to the One Red Dog, but we ain't no runt. Always one of the busiest places on the waterfront One Red Dog, Queens Wharf is a pure bred red.” Their food speciality is definitely pizza and they are hard to resist.

All seven Tuatara beers are on tap and available in jugs ($25 or $20 on Fridays). The suggested match here is the Godfather pizza (pepperoni, tomatoes, red onions, Portobello mushrooms and capsicum) with extra anchovies matched with Tuatara IPA. Do not be put off by the on-line beer menu which still has the Loaded Hog beers listed. The Tuatara chased those guys off years ago.

The Featherston Bar and Grill sits on the corner of Featherston and Johnston Streets, again about a block from D4 but this time towards the train station. After a dramatic and much-needed renovation, their website rightly describes the place as “An exquisitely refurbished art-deco masterpiece, Featherston boasts a reputation as Wellington's finest bar and grill. Featherston Bar and Grill is eternally popular with tourists, government and financial sector workers, food lovers, sporting enthusiasts and a whole range of local wits and raconteurs alike.”

Tuatara APA is on tap and looks set for a long stay. The Featherston steaks are amazing and any place which serves a dish of pork belly and spare ribs is always going to appeal to the Tuatara team. However, for something snackier, try the crab lemongrass and chilli dumplings washed down with Tuatara APA.

With three quality bars all serving Tuatara with a couple of blocks of central Wellington, the Tuatara Triangle could be one of the world’s easiest pub crawls. In fact, some people could probably do laps!

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Excuse me waiter, there’s a Tuatara on my plate

Dr Samuel Johnson – poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer.but best known to most Kiwis as the fat dictionary guy on Black Adder the Third – famously said "There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn."

He is completely correct. Tuatara is proud to support and supply many of the finest taverns, inn and even pubs around New Zealand. One of the newest and best is The Hop Garden on Pirie Street in Mount Victoria, Wellington. It is next to the KFC – an appalling description of the location but sadly most people then know where that is. It is the former site of Theo’s Greek Taverna. The proprietor is the legendary James Henderson of Bar Edward fame and he has bought in long-time Tuatara friend Scott Boswell, multi-award winning barman and proud plaid shirt wearer.

The beer selection is exceptional. The food is amazing – even David Burton, a feared food critic who can be exceptionally harsh on food in pubs was impressed. Consequently, a beer and food matching event there made perfect sense. The Hop Garden made the official announcement on their handsome new website:

The Hop Garden in association with Tuatara Brewery is proud to present "Excuse me waiter, there's a Tuatara on my plate": a six course food and beer matching extravaganza. Head Chef Gavin Grant and Mr Tuatara Carl Vasta will offer their insights into the dishes, the beers, and the symbiotic relationship between the two. Wednesday May 4, from 6.30pm. Tickets are $80 per person, and strictly limited to 40 places. To book, please email thehopgarden@gmail.com

None of us here are brave enough to call Carl “Mr Tuatara” far less make jokes about “symbiotic relationships.” It is going to be a mouth-watering event and places are selling out fast.

Like most normal people we regularly Google our own name and this week came across this gem about the Tuatara romance film – “Love in Cold Blood - which is up for three awards at the International Wildlife Film Festival. Here is how the documentary makers describe their film which is "not your ordinary wildlife documentary": It is the twisted tale of the long-running courtship between two tuatara at the Southland Museum. After nearly 40 years of their on-again off-again relationship with enough drama to rival Coronation Street , Henry, 111 and Mildred, 80, were finally caught "in the act" in their enclosure. Henry and Mildred survived rival suitors, love triangles and medical mysteries to triumph with fantastic results for the tuatara captive breeding program.

Tuatara wishes those crazy kids Henry and Mildred all the best and the documentary makers every success at the Festival!

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara on the hunt for Gold

In late February, the staff at the Tuatara office were busy completing the company’s application for the 2011 Wellington Gold Awards. These awards are sponsored by The Dominion Post and are basically the premier annual business event for the Wellington region. Readers may recall that we were finalists in the Emerging Business category last year, though we were pipped to the Award by Yellow Brick Road who were worthy winners.

We got our application in on time (just) and were delighted to find out last week that we have again been selected as a finalist in the Emerging Business category. This category, kindly sponsored by ANZ, is for “smaller enterprises”. The finalists will be judged again in the coming weeks with the Awards being presented at a black-tie dinner on May 18. It is one of the rare occasions the Tuatara team will dust off the monkey suits and try to look respectable for an evening.

Our fellow finalists are:

• Celcius Coffee – boutique family owned coffee roasting and cafe company
• Corner Solutions International – world leader in R&D for bending paper faced plaster boards
• Shott Beverages – specialists in premium, innovative hot and cold beverage syrups
• Urban Harvest – an online farmers market representing 70 local growers and foodmakers

There are lots of great local companies who have made the finals but Tuatara wishes the best of luck to our friends at Wellington on a Plate who are short-listed in the Vibrant Gold category. That category covers events, visitor and hospitality facilities.

We will, of course, keep you posted on the final results. In fact, Sales Manager Will may well live tweet the entire Awards ceremony. On the subject of Twitter, @TuataraNZ has recently passed 1,000 followers. That is over 800 more than Hon Peter Dunne but a demoralising 3,583,000 or so behind Charlie Sheen.

On the subject of winning, the Kingsgate Hotel in Wellington is running a Devour Wellington promotion with rooms priced at just $129. Now, that is a tidy price but they will also throw in breakfast for two and a six pack of Tuatara beer for every night booked. We hear the deal has been very popular since it was launched at the end of March.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Another first for Tuatara

Monday was a milestone day for the Tuatara Brewing Company. With the help of a large crane, we installed our first ever billboard on Cable Street in central Wellington. It’s near Te Papa, the Capital’s number one tourist destination, so we figured there should be plenty of traffic going past and eager to learn something about our beers.

Yes, we acknowledge there are already hundreds of beer billboards all over the country. Some of the best-known ones contain a rotation of witty sayings. Others are pictures of beautiful people in exotic locations. A large number refer to a major sporting event later in the year. None of them really talk about the flavour of beer though.

We wanted to do something a bit different. With the help of our creative team, we came up with a simple design and a powerful message. The billboard exhorts passers-by “don’t just open a beer – open your mind.” That seemed appropriate so close to the national museum. The target market for the billboard is drinkers who are just getting into craft beer or existing craft drinkers who haven’t tried our whole range yet.

The central image is our very cool APA bottle flanked by our best-selling Pilsner and the dark Tuatara of the family, Porter. In all modesty, we think they look great up on the big canvas. Because of the large size, it is quite easy to see the subtle differences in the APA branding compared to the two more established beers.

Like many small breweries, we place a few newspaper adverts and use social media (primarily Twitter, Facebook and this blog) to get our message across. You won’t see a Tuatara TV ad (for a while at least) but sometimes you can’t do everything on Twitter. Sometimes you just need a really, really big sign.

And now we have one. Any feedback on the design is welcome as are suggestions for other affordable billboard sites because we will probably do some more. In fact, we already have a few ideas.

Seeing the billboard up in all its glory has actually inspired the Tuatara crew to do up the ever-reliable brewery van. Currently, it is basically a big white blank canvas but, given the miles it travels on deliveries and jobs, we have decided to treat it as a mobile billboard. Once the work is done, we should be even easier to spot on the road.

For those that can’t see the billboard “live”, we have put up a photo or two. Enjoy!

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara Sells Out

The rumours are true – Tuatara Brewery is now part of a multinational corporation after being purchased at last week’s Auckland Beer Festival in Ellerslie Racecourse.

Tuatara Sales Manager Will Cass reported that business at the Tuatara festival stand was brisk despite the poor weather. Over the course of the day, both he and Director Sean Murrie were delighted by the number of Aucklanders who appeared to know and appreciate Tuatara beers.

One group of customers who stood out even in the big crowds were the Beer Arabs – a group of authentically dressed men from Waiheke Island. Near the end of the event, they returned to the Tuatara stand, formed a semi-circle, dropped to their knees and gave prolonged high-pitched praise. The leader then approached the table and delivered a framed formal document to the rather startled Tuatara crew.

Sean said he was initially delighted to receive what he assumed was the supreme award for the festival but was astonished to be told by the group’s leader that it was actually a deed of sale for Tuatara

The full text of the document is reproduced here:

The Beer Arab Decree
That the Tuatara Brewery came to The Oasis bearing BEERS of such fine quality that the BEER ARABS decided to buy the entire brewery on the spot.

The purchase was made through various companies under BEER ARABS central before being sent via an assortment of subsidiary organisations that we don’t really want to explain in any great detail, then onto our good friends in the Cayman Islands (May Allah shower blessings on their tax and banking laws) before being concluded via a disposable mobile phone just minutes ago right here at The Oasis itself.

Your brewery now joins our worldwide portfolio of fine and reputable companies including:

Honest Achmel’s Used Camel Yard, Tripoli. (Currently closed due to bombing. Please leave a message with Mrs Hakeem next door)
Real Ales of Riyadh (incorporating The Mecca Boozeatorium)
Sayeed’s House of Falfels (Come for the cous cous, stay for the explosions!)
Bashhar’s Menswear and Jihad Supplies, Baghdad (Martyrdom in style at prices you will thank Allah for!)
The Gaza Strip Nightclub for Men (The beer is so good you won’t CARE what is under the burqas!)
The Ramallah Inn Hotel, West Bank (Please no weapons to be fired in the rooms after 8pm)

This purchase of your brewery will not affect your day to day activities. All staff will be retained and no alterations to the brewery will be made. Simply continue to make FINE BEERS and all will be well.

Concerned at this potential takeover, particularly without any money coming their way, Tuatara immediately engaged celebrity fake lawyer May Chin, the best legal counsel they could afford. After looking deeply puzzled for ten minutes, Ms Chin concluded:

“As far as I can tell, it is a valid contract. It meets all the requirements – lots of big words, some of them in bold, the language is complicated and there are lots and lots of signatures at the bottom. Granted, none of those signatures are from Tuatara but the contract is in a lovely picture frame which more than overrides the lack of consent from the actual brewery being bought. Those guys sure know how to bargain.”

So there you have it – official confirmation that Tuatara has sold out to a shadowy multinational organisation.

Enjoy the rest of 1 April.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

The Very Best of Twitter

It may be some time before you see Tuatara adverts on the television. Until then, we have to find different ways to stay in touch with our customers, potential customers, friends and venues. We are active on Facebook, Twitter and even follow the old ways of face-to-face meetings, usually over a pint or two.

Increasingly, Twitter is our main day-to-day method for communicating promotions and contests, letting people know about new stockists and taps, sharing great comments, making a few jokes and even trying to track down our missing beer banners. Some truly awesome tweets appear in our Twitter feed every day but recently we received our first twoem.

The first natural question is “what the heck is a twoem?” Well, it is a poem done by Twitter. It was Will the Sales Manager (and main Twitter guy) who noticed that a series of scholarly tweets from Andrew Thomas Barrie was “basically an entertaining ode to APA.” It was Will who then put all the tweets in the right order so that a wider audience could enjoy this poetic tribute to the ever-popular Tuatara APA.

Here we go:

An Ode to Tuatara APA A twoem by @HideTheCider, March 18 2011

How do I love thee Tuatara APA? Let me count the ways.

I love thee Tuatara APA to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight. For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee Tuatara APA to the level of everyday's most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee Tuatara APA freely, as men strive for Right.

I love thee Tuatara APA purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee Tuatara APA with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee Tuatara APA with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints.

I love thee Tuatara APA with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life! - and, if God choose, I shall but love thee Tuatara APA better after death.

Generally, there is not a lot of poetry read in the brewery or the office but we really liked this one. Cheers Andrew - though we have to note that Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote something very similar in 1845 though she was only talking about her future handsome and not a lovely hoppy pale ale…

Last week we also marked a series of significant dates. It was one year since the very talented Mike Neilson joined the Tuatara brewery crew. We celebrated the birthday of the Helles beer style by giving out free Tuatara Helles in Auckland and Wellington. Finally, a very special beer and food matching event was held at Zealandia to mark the second anniversary of the first Tuatara born there and to raise money for the Sanctuary. It was a highly successful evening.

In fact, it was a very good week.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Celebrating a baby Tuatara birthday

We are often complimented about our rather cool brewery name and asked why we picked it ahead of other native New Zealand animals such as the Grand Skink, Kauri Snail or Long-Tailed Bat. Frankly, we just liked the Tuatara’s attitude.

Two hundred million years they were the little guys scuttling through the undergrowth while the big old Thunder Lizards (aka Dinosaurs) stomped around the planet. Now, the Tuatara is still scuttling around the undergrowth but the dinosaurs are in museum exhibits or in our oil.

We simply identify with the scrappy little chap. Contrary to a popular rumour, the Tuatara team doesn’t actually look like real Tuataras (well, not after a couple of cups of coffee in the morning anyhow).

That is why we have been so keen to support our friends at Zealandia (aka Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) who do an amazing job looking after real-life Tuatara. They looked after them so well that there are now lots of little baby Tuatara there and the first one is just about to turn two. There is going to be a rather special birthday celebration.

It is a unique beer and food matching event at 6:30pm on Thursday 24 March 2011. As the website says:

“Well known brewer and beer expert Dion Page will talk you through seven Tuatara beer tastings, each with an interesting food match from Rata head chef Craig Dunshea. Anecdotes from one of our valley rangers will add an interesting tilt to the evening.”

Dion is more than familiar with Tuatara beers as he was a brewer here. Rata has an excellent reputation, environmentally friendly philosophy, great views and superb taste – not least because Tuatara Pilsner and Tuatara Porter headline their beer list. Many of the Tuatara crew have eaten at Rata and even just reading the menu always makes us hungry.

Seven Tuatara beers - seven food matches - singing Happy Birthday to a two-year old lizard from the order Sphenodontia. What is not to like?

The cost for this unique tasting is just $60 a head and bookings are essential. As always, all the money made goes to support the sanctuary. You can book by ringing 04 920 9200 or emailing them.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Trying to make a difference – Part Two

On Friday 4 March 2010, the Brewer’s Guild of New Zealand and the Society of Beer Advocates organised six simultaneous events in Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton, Dunedin, Nelson and Blenheim to raise money for Christchurch Earthquake relief efforts. These events were on top of fund-raisers done by individual bars and breweries such as Galbraith’s, Hashigo Zake and Malthouse.

The format for each event was similar – a 5pm kick-off, a minutes silence at 7pm, a charity auction/raffle and a toast to Christchurch. Many of the Christchurch beer community were at their own function at the time – Beers and Tears – having a much needed pint together. For each event, breweries, suppliers, venues and bars generously donated products and prizes which were snapped up by often bigger than expected crowds.

The Wellington event was hosted by long-time friend Tuatara friend James Henderson at Bar Edward and organised by Kieran Haslett-Moore who sure sells a lot of Tuatara at Regional Wines. We were keen to be involved and donated four prizes. The first was a voucher for two to spend a day brewing with our own Carl Vasta at Reikorangi. When bidding slowed, the auctioneer promised that Carl would be wearing his shorts which provoked a flurry of (mainly female) bids. That prize also included transport, lunch and, we expect, a few beers.

We also put up three mixed packs of Tuatara beers which all included some great Tuatara merchandise. We even gave up three of the legendary Tuatara bar runners which have not been available to the public before, at least not legally. We were delighted at the prices all these items obtained from a very generous crowd of beer fans. In all, the Wellington event raised a brilliant $6,334.

There are a lot of people who did a lot of work to make this event succeed and we were proud to have played a part. Thanks have to go to the organisers – the Brewer’s Guild, SOBA, Kieran Haslett-Moore, James Henderson, Bar Edward and Neil Miller. Thanks also to the sponsors and those who donated auction items – Regional Wines, Logan Brown, Malthouse, Hashigo Zake, Emerson’s, Mikes, Renaissance, Moa, Coopers, Yeastie Boys, 8Wired, Elite Print, Beer Force, West Coast Brewing, Beer Force, McCashin’s and us!

Above all, thanks to all the generous members of the beer community who did plenty of good things for a good cause on the night.

Here’s to Christchurch!

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Trying to make a difference – Part One

On Sunday 27 February, Tuatara Brewing Company was delighted and proud to be a sponsor of the second annual Worser Bay Summerfest. This family-friendly event was a celebration of community, music, beer, wine and food with the proceeds going to the Worser Bay School, a learning establishment which Tuatara has strong family connections with.

In light of the tragic events in Christchurch, the organisers also decided to hold an additional collection for earthquake relief, and to encourage the winners of the silent auction items to donate a percentage of their successful bids to the quake funds.

The sun was shining, crowd numbers were well up on last year and people were very generous. This combination meant that sizable amounts of money were raised for the local school and to help the people of Canterbury.

It was a great event for two worthy causes.

One of the main points of difference for Summerfest compared to other school fundraisers was the emphasis on beer and food matching (only for adults we hasten to stress). This year there were five dishes, each matched with a Tuatara beer and a couple from our craft beer colleagues. Guests on the day could purchase tasters of the beers or whole bottles.

The previously secret menu looked like this:

Food: Smoked salmon on cedar plank
Beers: Tuatara Hefe, Three Boys Wheat

Food: Locally caught paua fritters
Beers: Tuatara Pilsner, Mike’s Organic Pilsner, Croucher Pilsner

Food: Authentic samosas
Beers: Tuatara APA, Tuatara IPA, Epic Pale Ale

Food: Strathmore Butchery sundried tomato sausages
Beers: Tuatara Ardennes, Harrington's Belgium Tempest

Food: Chocolate brownie, blue cheese and pear
Beers: Tuatara Porter, Wanaka Tall Black

Quaffing Lager: Tuatara Helles

Thanks to the organisers, volunteers, sponsors, promoters, suppliers and above all the paying public for creating such a spectacular event.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara goes back to uni

Last week, Victoria University of Wellington held its annual Orientation Week, now known by the far more hip moniker O-Week. As always, the major focus was music and parties, with some token efforts to show new students where things actually were on campus. The focal point for many events was a brand new venue - The Hunter Lounge in the Student Union.

Now, student bars have historically had a very poor reputation, both for the quality of their beer selection and the behaviour of their patrons. Victoria University’s own record has been mixed with the cavernous Mike’s Bar and awkward Eastside Bar never really catching on for the majority of thirsty students. That record looks set to change with The Hunter Lounge created during a massive upgrade of the aging Student Union building.

The result is a funky all-purpose social area described as a “café, bar and gig space.” Their Facebook page lists their specialities as “breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, drinks.” It is the last one of those that Tuatara was the most interested in. A quick look round head office determined that Will the sales manager looked the most like a student. As a result, he was immediately dispatched up the hill to chat to The Hunter Lounge crew about beer.

It is not clear what exactly Will told them but it sure worked. The Hunter Lounge now has our easy-drinking Tuatara Helles lager on tap and will have a few more Tuatara varieties available in bottles soon. The early sales figures are promising which shows that some students are willing to support beers with a bit more class and which are made locally.

Orientation also had a more serious side with Salient (the Victoria University student newspaper) collecting money at all events to support the University of Canterbury Volunteer Army. People affected by the Christchurch quake can contact the Army which then dispatches student volunteers to help. It is an amazing initiative which reflects well on all students and one which deserves the support of everyone. Great work guys.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara Talks Tough

There is no doubt that the overall craft beer market in New Zealand is growing. That argument is supported by official figures from the Brewer’s Guild, our own sales and distribution numbers, and what we see every day in bars, restaurants, bottle stores and supermarkets around the country. In many ways, the craft beer scene is the strongest it has been in modern history.

However, Tuatara Director Sean Murrie is concerned the combination of a flat economy and the perceived ‘threat’ of craft beer could be provoking a backlash from the big breweries. Here are his comments:

“There are a growing number of bars and other outlets who have decided that diversifying into offering craft beer products is the way to go. For a while, the big brewers allowed a bit of latitude. Maybe they would allow a single tap (near the back) or some bottles (at the bottom of the fridge). In many cases, the subsequent sales of craft products were much higher than they had expected. Craft beer has become hot property with consumers and I’m sure the issue is discussed at every board meeting of the big boys.

As a result, their policy seems to have changed – in many cases to a zero-tolerance policy for any other beers on site. Some publicans have had to reluctantly accept, some have successfully fought and won, while others are quietly waiting for their contracts to expire. It is well known in the industry that there have been some pretty big arguments all over the country, including in the key market of Auckland. They certainly were not all about Tuatara but a fair number of them have been.

In my opinion, we are at a bit of a tipping point. The use of strong, binding contracts is quite heavy handed and new owners are seriously considering forgoing the money and support at start-up in order to ensure they can serve the range of beers that they want over the first couple of years. That is a really big deal to forsake those early advantages ‘just’ for beer.

The large breweries will have to change their strategy at some stage – either by being more flexible about ‘ties’, producing better beer themselves or, more likely, acquiring a brewery to do that for them. They are certainly struggling to figure out how to engage with the craft sector at the moment. In some ways the Australian and American markets are ahead of us in this area though in neither case are they particularly good models for craft beer fans.

At Tuatara, we love seeing our taps and bottles next to other craft products. It is the way we think the market should operate – offering choice so that people can pick their favourites. Some days it might be us, some days it might one of our friends in another brewery. Obviously we hope it is us quite often but ultimately we are all trying to satisfy the customer. Those customers should look for opportunities to support outlets which have given up the early monetary advantages of the ‘tie’ in order to have the freedom to offer a proper selection of beer for years to come.”

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara loves food

While most people readily accept the concept of wine and food matching, they are usually a bit more sceptical about beer and food combinations. Stereotypes are frequently trotted out – “beer goes with chips”, “beer goes with nuts”, “beer goes with pies” – and, yes, it usually does. However, if the right beer is selected, it can do so much more.

We have long known this at Tuatara. We love seeing dishes made with our beers and matched with our beers. It is heartening to see more customers and drinkers asking for advice on beer and food matching. In that context, one of the most important innovations we saw this year was the nationwide release of the Liquorland summer catalogue.

Now, most catalogues from liquor stores are pretty basic - product name, product photo and product price, a list of stores, the website address, a couple of competitions and maybe some photos of the staff in silly hats. It has traditionally been a simple formula. However, this year, Liquorland, now a major stockist of Tuatara, decided to up the ante.

They asked a number of breweries (not just us) to supply some text about their history, their beers and to suggest accessible food matches for customers. As a result, the reader of the catalogue can actually learn more about craft beers and what might be good to eat with them. We think it is a fantastic step forward in beer education and applaud Liquorland’s initiative.

For those that are interested, here were our suggested simple matches:

Tuatara Helles – Enjoy this easy drinking lager with pork sausages done on the barbeque, an oven-roasted chicken or a soft Swiss cheese like Gruyere.

Tuatara Hefe – This cloudy wheat beer is the perfect drink to accompany steamed mussels, grilled white fish or a tasty potato salad.

Tuatara Pilsner – Try this crisp pilsner with smoked salmon, a firm cheddar cheese or use it to make the perfect beer battered fish and chips.

Tuatara is also delighted to be supporting Worser Bay School’s second annual Summerfest. Their press release says:

“Summerfest is a boutique, family-friendly food and beer festival. Supported by Tuatara Brewery, it’s a relaxing afternoon celebration of great beer (as well as wine, cider and Foxton Fizz) and tempting food matches accompanied by hot summer jazz, gypsy folk, blues and laid-back Irish ballads. Entry is $5 at the door (children under 12 FREE) or presales from the website. All proceeds support Worser Bay School.”

The exact beer and food matches are a bit of a secret but we hear they could include Tuatara Hefe matched with salmon cooked on cedar plank (a favoured technique of Martin Bosley and with good reason) and Tuatara Pilsner with outstanding local paua fritters (these delicious morsels bear no relation to the sad things usually served at fish and chip shops).

Sounds like a great way to spend the day and all in aid of a good cause.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

How we rate on RateBeer

The RateBeer website was created in 2000 which, in internet terms, was a very long time ago. Founder Bill Buchanan intended it to be a “forum for beer lovers to come together and share their opinions of beer and breweries.” It certainly became that – but probably on a much bigger scale than he imagined at the time.

Thousands of members have now rated and commented on tens of thousands of beers from over 60 countries. Two individual members alone are approaching 20,000 ratings each. RateBeer describes itself as “widely recognized as the most accurate and most-visited source for beer information.”

New Zealand has a small but active group of beer lovers reviewing regularly on the site and a large number of Kiwi beers have been rated. That includes all of the Tuatara range and we thought it would be interesting to see how the RateBeer community ranked our current selection. For each, we have also selected a sample (positive) comment from a reviewer:

Tuatara Pilsner – “It’s pretty hard to find clean, balanced pilsners. This one is perfect, my new #1 for the category. Sampled only in New Zealand several different times.”

Tuatara APA – “Rather nice pale ale, quite fruity in the aroma, with a nice floral kick. Taste is quite nice, rather heavy hops for a pale ale, but I’m not going to complain about more hops! Lemon, orange, apricot and sweet caramel, followed by a nice soft bitter finish.”

Tuatara Ardennes – “Pours a medium white head, with some lacing, over a hazy, golden (SRM 6) body... nose is light pear, apple, tiny bit of banana, slight clove, bit of hop floral... taste is light bitter to start, then bits of clove, allspice enter, becoming light pear, apple, bit of peach, leading to apricot, then a final bitter hop bite to finish.... mouth feel is medium, carbonation high, adding a pleasant spritz. This is a nice example of a Belgian Blond Ale. Initially in both nose and palate, it is reminiscent in some ways of a Pilsner, but then the esters and phenols from the yeast come in to change the direction. A worthy effort is this.”

Tuatara Hefe – “Pours a hazy gold with a fairly large frothy white head. Aroma of banana, clove, wheat, yeast, malt, lemon citrus and a dash of vanilla. Flavour is incredibly consistent with the nose. Smooth, medium-full-bodied, sweet, satisfying, and easy to drink. Nice hefeweizen overall.”

Tuatara Porter – “Large tan head, very dark red/brown porter almost mahogany. Aroma chocolate nice malt and good hops, vanilla caramel touch. Flavour roasted chocolate rich and smooth, yeast, taste, fizz, mild, nourishing porter, dark fruit taste. Finish smooth rich mild bitter and fizz - good porter.”

Tuatara IPA – “This India Pale Ale pours a light orange gold colour from a 33cl bottle. Medium sized white foamy head, with nice lacing. The aroma is biscuit and sweet, floral and herbal. Medium bodied IPA. The malts are caramel and bready, slightly sweet. The hops are herbal and earthy. Decent carbonation. A traditional English style IPA. More malty and somewhat sweeter than an American and maybe even an English IPA. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with some bitterness in the background.”

Tuatara Helles – “Very light and clear with a very large deep rocky head that shows good carbonation. Crisp zesty citrus aroma with a flavour that is light on the palate with a slightly tart finish and long aftertaste.”

Here are our key observations on the RateBeer conclusions:

• We were somewhat surprised at the Pilsner beating APA even if it was only by a single point. APA is a hugely popular style with the beer aficionados these days.
• One of the biggest positives was the good numbers for Tuatara Hefe. It’s a difficult style to master and wheat beer drinkers are often quite particular about what they like and don’t like.
• The two highest rated Tuatara beers are indeed the two biggest sellers though the rest of the rated order does not reflect sales figures. Helles in particular is much further up the sales list.
• A number of the most recent reviews of Tuatara products were from international tastings, particularly in Australia and America. This is gratifying given recent efforts to move into exporting.
• It was interesting to read how reviewer’s palates differed or perhaps some of our batches differed.
• In the reviews, the grammar and spelling could vary but all the reviewers seem to take their role seriously and we appreciate that.
• A final revelation was that the Alpine Brewing Company in Alpine, California, USA make an APA called Tuatara. They also make an Emerson Lager with both beers using New Zealand hops. Tuatara and Emerson join the colourfully-named Alpine range which includes beers called Ugly, Great, Willy Vanilly, Ichabod, Boris, Ned, Smore and Bad Boy.

Cheers
The team at Tuatara

The Year of the Tuatara (hopefully)

2010 just sped by and it is hard to believe that we are almost through the first month of 2011 already. The Tuatara team managed to have a bit of a break, indulging in some of our favoured pastimes including kite sailing (Carl), messing around in boats (Sean) and firing off a cannon to bring in the New Year (Will). It’s a family tradition apparently…

Tuatara could not take too much time off though because there is a huge demand for our beer over summer, particularly seeing the sun has actually come out a few times this year. There is nothing more embarrassing than a brewery running out of beer. Not saying that hasn’t happened to us once or twice, just that it is embarrassing when it does.

The big news, as revealed first on our Twitter feed, is that another 8,000 litres of Tuatara APA is ready. That is about 666 cases heading out shortly. Demand for this hoppy beast has been phenomenal but we did assure everyone that, just like Arnie, it would "be back!"

One Tuatara tradition that will not be back anytime soon is staff Christmas drinks where the crew polish off the low-filled bottles which cannot be sold. There were a fair number of these sitting around because the old bottling plant was, to be honest, old, only Carl really knew how it the thing worked and it seemed to break down every time he left the farm.

As a consequence, Tuatara has wisely invested in a new and much larger bottling plant. Carl went over to China to select the machine and it should be arriving around April-ish. We will give you all the geeky processing stats then and maybe even a few pictures too. The new bottler should make a huge difference to production and consistency.

Another innovation making a difference is the new Tuatara four-pack design. Four-packs are proving extremely popular at a number of supermarkets in the Progressives chain. The design of the four-packs will be tweaked and refreshed shortly as we consider rolling them out to more suppliers and outlets. There has been quite a debate in brewing circles about whether Kiwi drinkers would accept four-packs but in our experience at least the answer has been a resounding “yes!”

I know we have said it before but regular blogging should now resume for the rest of year. There is a lot of news coming and you can catch it here and on TuataraNZ Twitter. Here’s to a superb 2011.

Cheers
The Team at Tuatara