TUATARA beer

Specifications

We’re not sure what the optimum number of breweries in a country of four million should be, but we’re pretty sure that the correct answer is not “two”. Yet for more years than our uncles can count that’s exactly how many there were in New Zealand. It took ‘til the late 1990s for the beer revolution memo to get circulated, but soon enough new breweries were popping up like mushrooms. These were real brewers recognised for bringing flavour and individuality to the world’s pre-eminent refreshment.
One of those breweries began as a backyard operation in the hills above Waikanae. It was founded by Carl Vasta, an engineer with the tastebuds of a wine critic. Before too long, he’d managed to brew a superb range of ales, porters and pilsners for his friends under the name Tuatara.
The local demand for good beer is insatiable, and with volumes running at about a million litres a year we’ve become one of the leading lights in the craft industry. It probably helps that we’re based in Wellington where beer appreciation is not so much a cult as a full-blown religion. Today you’ll find Tuatara all over the country, in the local supermarket, as well as at selected spots around the world