5th August 2011
Local Brewery Strikes Gold
Last night the New Zealand Beer Awards were announced in Wellington as part of Beer Week. With 465 entries in 2011, the
Awards drew the biggest entry tally since their inception in 2001, up from 446 in 2010 and 348 in 2009.
West Coast Brewery took out a Gold Medal in the New Zealand and International Ale Styles with their West Coast
International Pale Ale.
“It is a top drop.” Said Paddy Sweeney the West Coast Brewery Director “It also came second in the New Zealand Beer Cup
in June. The sales of it have really taken off with eight bars in Wellington having it on tap. It is our number one
seller at the West Coast Bar and Grill.
Pale Ale is the most popular style of beer with craft beer bars and fast gaining favour across the board.
Already this morning we are fielding enquiries from around the country from bars who want to stock it. Some of the bars
that have it now are serious sellers of beer and the average volume per outlet is the highest of all our beers and will
continue to grow and impact and improve our bottom line.
Our fortunes in the beer world changed dramatically when we appointed David Kurth as our head Brewer. David has a strong
brewing pedigree and moved to Westport from Burleigh Brewing in Australia. He saw the direction we had on the table and
could see that he could contribute significantly to our objectives.”
West Coast Brewery also won Gold for their West Coast Draught which has been tweaked somewhat by David. Neudorf Ale that
they brew large batches for the Upper Moutre Inn also picked up a bronze. They sell it in their hotel and onsell it a
too a network of other bars.
“We now have three other breweries/onsellers that we brew specialty brews for. It’s a market that is growing for us and
we will soon have to double the capacity in our brewery to meet the demand.
ENDS