Journal

The Lash

We have just released a stout to ease the late winter / early spring malaise colloquially known as ‘Shitsville’ in this part of the world. I have always been taken by the strong stouts Guinness produce for export to and...

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Changes to the Pit Boss label and tap badge

Back in 2017 we released the first batch of Pit Boss. Our label designer came up with a tattooed hand doing the OK sign for the accompanying artwork. At about the same time unbeknown to us the American alt-right was...

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Kettle souring is dead. Long live the sour!

Three years ago we started making kettle soured beers. We did a pretty good job with the process with La Mure becoming a cult summer seasonal and Become the Ocean making it into our top 5 sellers. We put a...

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2018 - A Year in Review

As we come to the end of 2018 it’s a good chance to reflect on the year as it comes to an end. 2018 was full of challenges and triumphs. 

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A new member of the family

Last week we released a new beer. Yellow Eye is our new IPA combining both English and new world influences to create a tropically fruity malty India Pale Ale. We have used an English style malt bill, a combination of...

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Island Life

Shortly before Christmas we ventured into new territory for our spontaneous fermentation program. Up until now our program has used the wild microbes of our brewery environment to inoculate our wort and ferment our spontaneous beers. However, for some time...

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Belgian Spring

The last few months have seen us release a raft of Belgian style beers. We always aimed to be a Belgian and English inspired brewery but it took us a year to bed in the brewery and begin our Belgian...

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The Dark Veil

When we ferment and age our beers in barrels a skin called a pellicle forms across the top of the beer helping to protect the beer below from oxidation. This is an element that we have in common with sherry...

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Sour-vana

Beervana is just around the corner. This year there is a dedicated sour beer bar and no surprise considering the current trends in beer and the themed bar there are going to be more sours than ever before pouring. This...

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440’s are go!

Our first seasonal tall boy 440ml cans have hit the market! Now available are Old Island Burton Ale and Iron Sands Oat Rye Stout and our first Salt and Wood range can Oud Bruin. We have a bunch of seasonal...

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Feeling Spontaneous

There are two Belgian traditions of sour beer production that really fascinate us. The first is the mixed fermentation process which is traditionally used to produce the red and brown beers of Flanders. Baby Grand and Oud Bruin both fit...

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Salt, Wood and Funk

Earlier this year we released the first of our Salt and Wood range of barrel aged mixed fermentation beer in bottles. The first three releases were: Baby Grand our Hawkes Bay Cab Sav influenced Flanders Red Ale, Rivage Brux our...

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