New Zealand Beer

We used to drink by brand, and loyally drink only one most times. Usually forced to drink something different when being a guest at someone elses house, or at a bar/pub that didn’t have your drop.

But its finally changing, we like to try different ones, taste a few during a night, we pay more attention to where it was brewed, what type of beer it is, is it light or dark, pilsner or pale ale. This change to an industry controlled by two main breweries has seen more serious micro breweries pop up, some of which are very well established (Wanaka Beer Works, Moa, Lindenburg, Hellertau, Emersons…) Its exciting, and about time Lion and DB had some competition (most of their beers are low quality).

And the new $100 million dollar expansion plan by The West Coast Brewery is just another taste of what the future has install. The next 10 years is going to see the NZ beer industry get the attention that the NZ wine industry has (now exporting around $800 million a year) . Expansions, such as the West Coast Brewery just announced, is just the beginning.

Whats evern more interesting is that they have just taken over the sponsorship of Hokitika Wild Food Festival. This is super good news since Monteiths (the old sponsor) is Asian owned anyway and hardly a NZ beer anymore.

So Big Ups to The West Coast Brewery for taking on the big boys, good luck to ya and look forward to drinking your beer.