Beer Awards and Beervana

The results from the 2010 BrewNZ Beer Awards were announced during a big dinner at the Duxton Hotel this week. Our Tuatara team was well represented in the crowd and we were delighted to see our beers similarly well represented in the medals.

A big team of local and international judges blind tasted a record number of entries (over 450 this year) in a range of categories. Only a third of entries received a gold, silver or bronze medal from the judges.

We entered all of our beers into the awards and were delighted that three of them received silver medals. Specifically, we picked up:

Class E: European Ale Styles	Tuatara Ardennes	Silver Medal
Class F: New Zealand, US and International Ale Styles	Tuatara APA	Silver Medal
Class H: Wheat and Other Grain Styles	Tuatara Hefe	Silver Medal

What makes these awards particularly pleasing is that Class E and Class F were the amongst the most hotly contested categories, both in terms of number of entries and number of medals awarded. Both categories were eventually taken out by Auckland’s Steam Brewing, with Cock and Bull Fuggles winning Class E and Cock and Bull Monk’s Habit victorious in Class F. Congratulations to the team at Steam.

Beervana has arrived and that means the Tuatara stand will be open for business in Wellington Town Hall. Sessions are 12-4pm and 5-9pm on Friday 27 August and Saturday 28 August. Full details, including how to buy tickets, are on the Beervana website. There will be door sales - but only if the session is not already sold out.

We will be pouring the entire Tuatara range and debuting our much-anticipated anniversary beer. In honour of ten years of being in business, Carl and brew team have created a 10% beer in the style of a Belgian Tripel. It is strong, spicy, yeasty and tasty.

It is called X as a reference to the X-Ale we once made and the fact that X, is of course, the Roman numeral for ten. We think it is quite clever really.

There will be strictly limited quantities of X on tap at Beervana and we will be releasing it in bottles relatively soon. Come and see us at Beervana on stall 19 (to the right as you enter the main hall) for one of the first tastes of this special beer.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara Goes Upmarket With a Vengeance

Around 98% of New Zealand has mobile phone coverage but the Tuatara Brewery is clearly in that other 2%. We have zero reception there which is probably why we get so much work done. The lack of coverage is because the entire range of Tuatara beers are created on a working farm in rural Waikanae, an hour’s drive away from Wellington and even thirty minutes from scenic Porirua. Like most farms, the dress code is pretty casual and the food tends towards the hearty.

It could not be more different at one of the latest venues to offer Tuatara – Clooney Restaurant in Auckland. Clooney is located a little off the beaten track (by Auckland standards) on Sale Street in Freemans Bay and is acknowledged as one of the very best eateries in the country.

Tuatara has being paying a lot of attention to the Auckland market recently and this is one of our biggest successes to date. Now, Tuatara IPA and Ardennes have swanked their way into this exceptionally ‘Gucci-Cool’ establishment to accompany some seriously sophisticated food.

Here is how Clooney describes Clooney on their website:

"In October 2006, owner Tony Stewart, in collaboration with Fearon Hay Architects, transformed a derelict warehouse space into a spectacular dining room, creating a completely unique dining experience.

Situated in a forgotten corner of central Auckland, Clooney has fast established a reputation for exceptional cuisine served within a dramatic setting. With its elegant ambience reflecting its industrial beginnings, Clooney offers intimacy within a sumptuous interior. Executive Chef Des Harris's dishes are seen as sophisticated, expertly crafted, expressing assertive flavours and simplicity. Inspired by traditionalism and finished with a modern slant, Chef Harris takes a modern approach to classic flavour combinations."

Clearly they are doing something right; with Clooney yet again a finalist for the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year. Last year, they were runner up in the Best Smart Dining (Metropolitan) section. Interestingly, another multi-award winning restaurant, Martin Bosley’s Yacht Club, also stocks Tuatara with Chef Bosley saying they are amongst his best selling beers.

In brewery news, the second batch of the Tuatara APA is rolling out the doors and off to an extended range of venues. We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to this beer which proves that New Zealand drinkers simply love big, assertive, hoppy beers at the moment. It is hard to imagine a beer like this having much success ten years ago when we started.

Finally, Beervana is fast approaching and we are just finishing off our very special release for that event. Tuatara has never done this particular beer style before and we actually had to kick start the yeast again last week just to make sure it will be in top condition for the week (or more) of BrewNZ-related festivities. There will be more details on what Tuatara will be up to at BrewNZ later in the month.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

La De Da - Tuatara Gets its Groove on

By nature, Tuatara drinkers tend to be a socialable lot. At the brewery, we often hear justifiable complaints from them about the quality of beer available at major sporting events and big concerts. We are frequently asked "why can't I get a Tuatara at the stadium or the events centre?" and it's a very valid question. The bottom line is that generally only the big breweries can afford to get involved in these really large events.

That has all changed however. Tuatara is delighted to announce that it will be supplying the beer for the country's best New Year's Eve party – La De Da. New Zealand's newest music festival will be held at the scenic Alana Estate in Martinborough on December 31 2010. We are telling you now because the tickets are already almost gone…

The artists performing are described as a "Kiwi lineup second to none, with the huge live presence of roots/dub/rock act Kora, the chilled out reggae vibe of Katchafire, the rich and soulful tones of songstress Hollie Smith, NZ’s most loved roots/dub act Salmonella Dub, hot new roots/dub/drum and bass act SIX60, the country’s premiere electronic act Minuit, the big sounds of drum and bass act The Upbeats (live), drum and bass/dubstep production powerhouse Mt Eden Dubstep, Northland reggae act 1814, blues, rock, country and roots champions The Thomas Oliver Band, and renowned DJs Nick D and Clarke Gayford."

We reckon that if Tuatara’s had iPods, those mellow nocturnal lizards would probably love a little drum and bass. While the team at Tuatara tend to be more classic rock kind of guys – the head brewer’s love of 1980s power ballads is legendary – we do like to get our dub on and relax to some soulful beats. This year, we will be able to do so with a selection of Tuatara beers.

All of this happened because the concert organisers were willing to look past the dollars when selecting an appropriate beer partner. In fact, they actually let the fans pick the beer. La De Da’s Facebook page, which has a staggering 8,101 fans, posted this message:

"What sort of beer do you want us to serve at La De Da? Remember, we are a boutique festival being held in a winery so we want to serve a boutique beer that is cool, tasty, refreshing… and hopefully a local brand to support the region. Let us know what you think beer drinkers!"

They certainly did. At last count there were over 200 comments on this post and several more suggestions on the wall, including a surprising amount of love for Double Brown. In the end, the people wanted Tuatara and thanks to the wisdom of the organisers they will get it. Most of our team will be up there on New Year's Eve to make sure the beer still tastes good while we dance away 2010. We hope you will join us at La De Da.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

The Little Dragon That Could

As reported recently in the Dominion Post article "Little local dragon sent to quench China's thirst", Tuatara is sending a pallet of beer to China as samples. We are confident they will lead to big orders as we continue to develop the export side of our business. The beer will be distributed by Tradepoint in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China. Appropriately, Xiamen has been a sister city for Wellington since 1987. Tuatara beer already goes to Australia and America in relatively small quantities but the virtually unlimited potential of the Chinese market makes this a very exciting development.

With little fanfare in 2002, China overtook the United States as the largest producer and consumer of beer. This achievement is based mainly on China’s massive population (estimated at over 1.3 billion) as their per capita beer consumption is still very low at around 30 litres per person. That is considerably less than half New Zealand’s consumption figure. The end result is that there is tremendous potential for growth in the Chinese beer market, particularly as sustained economic growth over the last decade has created a growing middle class with higher disposable incomes.

That said, there should be no doubt that China can be a tough place to sell beer. The market is extremely fragmented and the country is basically a collection of distinct regional economies which often require quite different approaches. It is difficult for even the biggest breweries to operate at a national level there. Several large breweries (including Lion) have struggled in China though currently many of the world’s biggest drinks companies (such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and SAB Miller) are highly active in China.

Of course, Tuatara has no intention of trying to dominate even a regional market. Xiamen city alone has a population of 2.5 million. The surrounding Fujian province is home to 36 million people. Instead, we are setting up the relationship with Tradepoint, going about exporting systematically and selecting our targets carefully.

The favoured beer style in China, like many other countries, is golden lager. Tuatara Helles and Tuatara Pilsner would be more flavoursome than most mainstream Chinese beers or global imports but there is a growing thirst for premium products. Tuatara Porter and Tuatara Ardennes would be something quite different to the average Chinese beer palate but again there is potential. Both those beers could match well with Fujian cuisine which is light but flavoursome.

In the Dominion Post article, reporter Hamish Rutherford called Tuatara the "little local dragon" and we think that is a pretty nice description. The mighty Chinese dragon is a benevolent creature symbolic of power, culture and good luck. It sounds like it could well be a mythical relative of the humble Tuatara – there is a certain family resemblance after all.

Ganbei from the team at Tuatara

Ten Years of Tuatara

For most of us, the year 2000 was the start of a new century and we marked it with a huge party just in case the Y2K Bug really did destroy everything on the stroke of midnight. Of course, if you want to be completely accurate, the 21st Century didn’t actually start until 2001 but we didn’t allow that to dampen the mood.

Helen Clark was Prime Minister of New Zealand. George W Bush would (eventually) become President of the United States. Mission Impossible II was number one at the global box office while Britney Spears arrived with “Oops, I did it again.”

The Summer Olympics were successfully held in Sydney while the All Blacks won all ten tests they played that year. The International Space Station became continuously manned but the Russian submarine Kursk tragically sank.

Proving that some things do stay the same, anti-globalisation protests turned violent, peace efforts in the Middle East were unsuccessful and Microsoft was ruled to have violated antitrust laws by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on its competitors.

In 2000, Tuatara beer was brand new and only really available from The Malthouse (then on Willis Street) and Bar Bodega (then also on Willis Street but much further up). Supermarkets had just been given the right to start selling beer and it would take them a while to start stocking the good stuff. As it happened, it took a few years for Tuatara to start bottling and a few more years for Tuatara beers to start appearing on store shelves regularly.

This is all a slightly roundabout way of saying that Tuatara is almost ten years old. In some ways, the years have simply flown by. In other ways, it seems like our journey started a long time ago. A decade is a long time in this industry. What we do know is that we still have a long way to go but we intend to celebrate this milestone just a little bit. Craft brewing can be a tough business but we are going to keep doing our thing, our way.

The plan at the moment is to brew a special commemorative beer to mark Tuatara’s tenth anniversary. Because of the recent expansions to the brewery and the arrival of new equipment and tanks (even if the forklift got a puncture carrying one of them up the drive in the pouring rain – poor Carl), production capacity has basically doubled. With a few more conditioning tanks, it may even triple.

That has given us the ability to now produce a few more special brews and seasonal releases. Tuatara APA was really just the beginning in this area. If there is any particular style or type of beer you would like to see us make, leave a comment below or contact us on Facebook or Twitter. We will keep you updated here.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara Loves APA

While all the media talk recently has been about credit cards and vuvuzelas, an important news item about Tuatara has largely been over-looked. A pair of University of Otago science masters students won two awards at the New Zealand Reel Earth Environmental Film Awards. Their film, In Cold Blood, is easily the best Tuatara romance movie you will see this year – guaranteed. It even has its own blog.

Speaking of Tuatara love, the team here is loving the new Tuatara APA. Judging by the speed of sales, we are not the only ones. There have been some pleas on our Facebook and Twitter profiles for a list of venues where APA may be available (depending on stocks of course):

• Malthouse – The home of Tuatara is naturally the home of Tuatara APA
• Hashigo Zake – Underground cult beer bar
• Bar Edward – Good beer in Newtown
• One Red Dog – Pizza and beer on the Wellington waterfront
• D4 – Upstairs Irish hospitality with a fine selection of beers
• House on Hood – the ‘home of great beer’ in Hamiltron.

The beer critics have had a few nice words to say too. Here is an excerpt from Kieran Haslett-Moore’s piece in the Capital Times:

“Last week saw the first new release from Tuatara since last year’s malt accented Helles Lager. Last Wednesday Tuatara APA, a hoppy aromatic American style pale ale, was released at the Malthouse. While Helles had been aimed at bridging the gap between craft beer and the mainstream, APA is very firmly aimed at the growing numbers of ‘hopheads’ who have helped to catapult brands like Epic onto supermarket shelves around the country.

Tuatara APA was developed after Head Brewer Carl Vasta returned from attending the World Beer Cup in Chicago this year. A blend of three American grown hop varieties, Cascade, Amarillo and Simcoe were used over a solid English malt backbone of Marris Otter Pale and low colour Crystal malts. Pouring a rich shade of light amber, APA throws up aromas of grapefruit, tropical fruit, pine resin and biscuity malt, in the mouth the beer has a complex range of zesty, fruity hop flavours, and a solid lightly caramel flavoured malt backbone.

Tuatara APA really stands out from the pack of American Pale Ales currently available in New Zealand by striking a fantastic balance between malt character and hop flavour making it incredibly drinkable.”

Absolutely – what he said.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara

Tuatara Makes a Key Appointment

Tuatara is pleased to announce that Will Cass has taken up a newly created role at a very exciting time for the company. Here is what he had to say about his experience, expectations and beer preferences.

Will, what is your job title?

I’m the National Sales Manager for Tuatara Brewery.

When did you start?

Monday 1 June 2010.

What did you do before that?

I’ve been in IT. In 2008, I sold my IT company Aangel Messaging to a London-based firm. I spent the next couple of years working for them while looking for something new and fresh. I had the opportunity to participate in the TradeMe 'On the Job' competition and discovered the Tuatara position. I knew pretty much straightaway it was what I wanted to do. It ticked all the boxes – small company, growing quickly, iconic brand and fun.

What will you be doing at Tuatara?

I will be managing the sales side of the company. We will be looking to consolidate our operations, fulfilment and logistics processes. The idea is to further improve our supply and create a champion brand – both business-to-business and business-to-consumer. I think Tuatara as a brand is already nearing iconic status, particularly in Wellington. Overall, we want to drive on ahead and become a significant brewery in a burgeoning craft beer scene.

Where do you see Tuatara in two years?

We would have continued our linear growth as a company but also be recognised as the brand which really helped lead the mass adoption of quality craft beer.

Which is your favourite Tuatara beer?

It has got to be the IPA. I’m becoming a little bit of a hophead and at my stage of life it’s all about quality, not quantity.

If you weren’t drinking Tuatara, what would you have?

Well, it depends on the environment really. I’m a fan of wheat beers and a fan of big stouts. I enjoy beers like Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Guinness, Leffe Brune and Erdinger.

What are the challenges for the craft beer industry?

The big challenge for the industry as a whole is to make craft beer more accessible. We have to lower the barriers to the mass market. We need to help people make taste discoveries which put them on a new beer path. That does not mean we rush it or push them – people just get annoyed that way. We need to be confident in our products. For Tuatara, we also have the challenge of dealing with explosive growth. That will require dynamic and responsive management.

How will you know if you succeed?

I want Tuatara to continue to be a business and financial success. It will take a large-scale business approach but that success will always be based on the amazing skill of our brewer. We need to strike the right balance between bringing in new drinkers and keeping our loyal customers happy. That will require producing consistently good beer as well as the big fun of more seasonal releases which put our spin on the classics.

Welcome aboard Will. We will be hearing a lot more from him over the coming months.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara