Our Beers

The year was 1852; Taranaki had three flour mills, four chapels and a handful of hotels but it had nothing to read. So a chap by the name of William Collins was sent north to Auckland to collect a brand new printing press. Collins dragged the bulky unit by Bullock to the Auckland Port, before loading the Press onto a Boat, and setting sail for New Plymouth. Arriving safely, it was put to work, printing the Taranaki Herald from 1852 to 1989 before it was given a well deserved retirement. In the spirit of great Aucklanders arriving into Taranaki, we've brewed this Oyster Baltic Porter in collaboration with Mahurangi Oysters (Warkworth). A celebration of the rich marriage between Malt and Mollusc; Taranaki and Tāmaki Makaurau.

While most of us feel about as creative as a pocket calculator on a good day, Len Lye was a living ferment of aesthetic invention. Visitors to the shiny Len Lye Centre on Queen St usually depart gobsmacked at the depth and breadth of his imagination. The second rendition of our Free Radical Sour Beers uses lactobacillus in the kettle which is then boiled and fermented clean. The acidity is then softened with a huge load of fresh Blueberry.

The Pound of Butter. Rotary Cowsheds. Kindling Crackers. Rural Taranaki has delivered some cracking wins when it comes to Kiwi Ingenuity. Widely unknown outside of farming circles is the devilishly practical 'Taranaki Gate' - a simple wire and batten gate, and a classic example of the number 8 wire mentality of making the most of any materials at hand. This Saison pays homage to rural Taranaki ingenuity; brewed by pulling together a few basic ingredients to form a cracking, practical and very drinkable farmhouse ale.

While most of us feel about as creative as a pocket calculator on a good day, Len Lye was a living ferment of aesthetic invention. Visitors to the shiny Len Lye Centre on Queen St usually depart gobsmacked at the depth and breadth of his imagination. The third rendition of our Free Radical Sour Beers uses lactobacillus in the kettle, which is then boiled and fermented clean. The acidity is then softened with a huge dose of Juicy Mango.

Taranaki Amber is a Beer for Taranaki people. A nostalgic celebration of the classic NZ Draught style famously served in frosty handles around the country, this beer is brewed to be sessionable and smashable. Brewed with all New Zealand ingredients, and a few cheeky tricks learnt from the big boys, this is Shining Peak's 'Beer for every Bugger'.

They say some of the best stories start with a broken heart. Following WWII, decorated Urenui Fighter Pilot - Harold Newton, returned to England to collect his sweetheart, only to discover that in his absence, she had married a Naval Officer. Not excited by the prospects of a boat journey home to New Zealand, he purchased a 75HP American Ercoupe Aircraft from a trade show in Belgium. Naming her Petite Pegasus - it took him just 18 days to fly home, with the long hop across the Tasman setting a distance record for a low powered flight. This Low Powered Hazy Session IPA with a tropical hops sends a lofty salute to Harold and his Petite Pegasus.

2019 Vintage Stout is our first release of what will become our ‘Vintage’ range of yearly Barrel Aged releases. This Imperial Stout was brewed with a ‘Reiterated’ Double Mashing schedule, in which the second mash is mixed in with high gravity Wort from the first mash. This process allows us to extract a more concentrated sweet Wort, which feeds the yeast to create a higher alcohol brew. A small addition of dextrose sugar in the fermenter added an extra hit of alcohol which gives this beer a warming balance to the oak tannins. We then decanted the beer into single-use Wild Turkey Barrels and left the beer to rest for six months. The process of Oak ageing creates a chemical reaction between the wood and the beer, in which flavour compounds such as tannins and vanillins leach into the beer, creating a rounded and complex flavour. By treating the oak barrel as an additional ‘ingredient’ we’ve been able to create this complex and rich brew that is perfect for winter nights, and will also cellar extremely well as it gains complexity with ageing.

The year was 1930 when the New Zealand Oil Refineries began producing petrol, meaning that for the first time, Taranaki people could buy oil from their own oilfields. After several teething problems - including oil tanks solidifying in the cold weather leaving farmers to defrost their fuel tanks with blowtorches, Peak Petrol was born. Like a few beer brands that we all know, "Taranaki's own high-octane fuel' eventually fell away to the multinationals, but we're paying tribute with our own high-octane brew, loaded with a ridiculous amount of American and New Zealand grown hops that leave a tropical, resinous slick on the tongue.

Everyone loves a good bit of irony. In this instance though, probably not the Annabell family. Like many European Taranaki settlers, the Annabell ancestors spent their lives clearing Manuka scrub from the land in the Waitotara Valley, only for James and Toby Annabell to allow the Manuka to grow back so that the lucrative honey could be harvested. Egmont Honey now have over 4000 hives and export to more than 20 countries around the world. This beer is a cross-pollination of ideas between Egmont Honey and Shining Peak, which results in a smooth English Brown Ale balanced with the sweet flavour of Taranaki's finest gold.

At the Mountain end of Currie Street lies a rare old building of impressive scale. Originally the 'Egmont Steam Flour Mill', the oldest industrial building in New Plymouth has since swapped Flour-Power for Happy-Hour. The Mill has seen many overhauls and new occupants in its time, including a folk and blues club and even and adult entertainment bar. Most famously though, The Mill is known as a bar and restaurant that dominated the Taranaki hospitality scene from the 80s through until the early 2000s. We've brewed this German 'Weiss' Beer, a cloudy Wheat beer with notes of bubble-gum, clove and banana as a nod to the long hard days of grinding flour at The Mill.

On the Coast of Taranaki lies the overachieving village of Pungarehu - home to volcanic farmland, the Barrett family, and of course, the Parihaka Pa. It was also once the home of a future Nobel Prize winner - one of the greatest scientists of the modern age. the poster-boy of New Zealand's $100 note, Lord Ernest Rutherford lived here with his family before moving abroad to unlock the secrets of nuclear power, split the atom and learn the importance of being Ernest. We're splitting our own atoms with our specially brewed "Brut IPA", fermented bone-dry with the help of special enzymes (science) and liberally hopped with American Mosaic hops.

While most of us feel about as creative as a pocket calculator on a good day, Len Lye was a living ferment of aesthetic invention. Visitors to the shiny Len Lye Centre on Queen St usually depart gobsmacked at the depth and breadth of his imagination. The second rendition of our Free Radical Sour Beers uses lactobacillus in the kettle which is then boiled and fermented clean. The acidity is balanced by a subtle hint of apricots.

Monica Brewster (née Govett) was a woman of the world, an activist and a feminist. Her legacy was gifting Aotearoa with a world-class contemporary art museum. Since 1970 the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery has helped shape New Plymouth’s exceptional art community, inspiring artists and visitors alike. Being the granddaughter of a prime minister and a vicar, you could say Monica was born with high expectations. You could also say her six-figure koha to establish the Gallery well exceeded those expectations. We’ve carefully curated this Pale Ale using crisp Nelson hops to honour Mrs Brewster’s trailblazing legacy and celebrate 50 years of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – here’s to the next 50.

"Sick as, bruh" meant something different for New Plymouth's surfers back in the day. It was probably what they were telling their General Practitioner after paddling through the proverbial let go from the town's 'revolutionary' sewerage system installed in 1933. Thankfully, things have been cleaned up since then, allowing for a much more refreshing ocean experience at the surf break known as 'Bogworks', located directly outside our Brewery. A combination of clean, light malts and crisp Riwaka hops make this New Zealand Pilsner the perfect way to cap off a day catching the big ones.

Chew Chong of Canton, knew nothing of Saison. What he did know, however, was how to make a buck, specifically with fungus and milk. He initially made his fortune extracting fungus from decaying Taranaki native trees and exporting them back to China as a delicacy. Then, from his dairy factory in Eltham, he was the bright spark who created the famous pound of butter. We've brewed his Belgian style Saison "farmhouse ale" in his honour, using traditional Belgian "fungus" (otherwise known as yeast) while nodding to his Kiwi heritage with a hint of Kawakawa and Horopito.

The impressive brains in the natural gas industry once came up with a genius solution to a dangerous problem. The problem? Natural gas doesn't have an odour and hazardous leaks were going undetected. The solution? Skunk Juice!

What is Skunk Juice you ask? It's a pungent brew or Sulphide and Methyl Mercaptan that can be smelled almost three kilometres from its source. It pongs so bad, it once shut down the town of Stratford for a whole day!

Our version of Skunk Juice harnesses a hazy chemical brew of Mosaic and Citra hops, that unlike its namesake, gives off a beautiful tropical and citrus aromas, so you'll always know when someone nearby has poured themselves a glass of Skunk Juice!

You might be familiar with the name, Captain James Cook. His persistent tiki-touring south of the equator eventually found him off the rugged coast of Taranaki, whereupon observing its mineral-rich black titanic iron sand, he nicknamed our foreshore the Desert Coast. Just like the old wive's tale that stout beer is rich in iron and should be consumed for its mineral content alone, we've brewed this Stout with loads of Oats and Roast Malts to see you right on those blisteringly cold Desert Coast nights.

Dicky Barrett, renowned for being as wide as he was short, became somewhat of a hero around these shores. Lovingly given the moniker Tiki Parete by local iwi, he fought alongside his Māori brothers against the cowbell ringing enemy from the north. Legend has it he died from injuries while battling a whale, but other reports state a botched double bypass may have been the cause. In honour of Dicky’s girth, this English Bitter boasts a full body, balanced with herbal Antipodean hops.

Legend has it that in centuries past, a race of fair or red-haired people without tā moko - the Patupaiarehe - dwelt in fortified villages in the mountain mist. At night they'd come down to seduce the rest of us by playing their putorino and singing.

Nowadays, we're wooing you with this hoppy Red Ale. Malty and deep red in colour, it packs enough punch for the hopheads, while keeping things balanced for entry-level drinkers

Back when ladies were seen as vaporous, fragile creatures jammed into supportive hosiery, Fanny Fantham was suiting up as part of the first party to climb the pimply peak on the south slope of Mt. Taranaki. It’s known as Fanthams Peak to this day. We’re tipping our hat to Fanny’s alpine ambitions with the German Pilsner style lager.

Novelist and Hawera luminary Ronald Hugh Morrieson was a big wrestling fan. His idol was Lofty Blomfield, a lion of the ring whose sickest move was the Octopus Clamp. He and his mates used to drink a brew from the Hawera Brewery called “O.C.” which Ron promptly dubbed Octopus Clamp. We’re going the rest of the way and making it for real as a chocolatey Schwarzbeir with stone fruit and caramel flavours.

In the late 19th century, Taranaki was terrorised by a bona fide highway robber called Robert Wallath. Robert was on the young side but he was enthusiastic and principled. He never took money from the working poor, just property developers and dotcom billionaires, giving him a Robin Hood reputation that probably saved his neck.

Far away in England an art forger called James Edward Little specialised in forgeries of Maori and Pacific art, even though he’d never been near our neck of the woods. He fooled a lot of “experts” and consequently Puke Ariki has the biggest collection of Little Fakes in the world. This session IPA deceives by fronting big Amarillo and Mosaic without the alcohol kick.

Back in the day, Whare Matangi, estranged son of Ngarue, was given a magic dart, or tara, that would lead him to his father. After a few throws the tara hit Ngarue’s house at the mouth of the river. The place became known as Te Whai-tara uni-a-Ngarue, or Waitara. Our own Magic Dart aims for an American-style golden ale with a combo of US and kiwi hops combining sweet stonefruit and tropical aromas.

Rewi Alley cut his teeth on hard-scrabble farming in Taranaki before moving to China in the 1920s. He fell in with the Communists, seeing the revolution through and founding the “together in harmony” movement, better known by the name Gung Ho! It’s also a great description of the way the Amarillo, Citra Centennial and Nelson Sauvin hops in this American IPA combine.