Monteith's Brewery in Greymouth

 

I had the chance to go on the Monteith's Brewery tour while we were in Greymouth. Established in 1868, Monteith's is one of the oldest breweries in New Zealand. Unfortunately, there was a driver's strike at the time of my visit, so nothing was being brewed.

 

Checkout the Monteith Brewery website

From the website " From humble origins in 1868, the Monteith’s family-owned Phoenix Brewery became the West Coast’s most popular brewery for its strong tasting, full-bodied ale. The Phoenix Brewery later merged with a group of small breweries to form Westland Brewing Company, predecessor to today’s Monteith’s Brewing Company. The Monteith’s Brewery is going strong and continuing with the same brewing traditions almost 150 years on from its inception. Along with coal-fired boilers there are open fermenters that allow the brewer to see and smell the beer as it slowly matures. Our brewers carefully nurture the beer by hand in small batches to coax out the full natural flavours. When the beer finally emerges, it is of such high quality that the bottles are filled without pasteurisation to keep the natural aroma and taste intact. All that’s left is tasting… for the purposes of quality control."

The Monteith Line-Up

Produced year round

Crushed Apple Cider- Monteith’s new Crushed Apple Cider is crafted from sun-ripened Nelson apples before journeying to our Monteith’s master brewers who spend three months carefully nurturing the freshly crushed apple juice.

Radler Bier- Monteith’s Lemon and Lime Flavoured Radler® is a refreshing fruity lager, based on the style brewed in Bavaria in the 1920’s.

Original Ale- Monteith’s Original Ale delivers a full, round and complete beer flavour. It’s the hops that dominate aroma and taste. However, on closer inspection, there’s a subtle blackberry aroma which originates from the female flowers of the Pacific Gem Hops.

Pilsner- Monteith’s lively hopped Pilsner Beer bursts forth with a brisk noble hop aroma. It’s a beer with immense flavour and enormous hop character.

Golden Lager- Monteith’s naturally malted Golden lager has a fresh natural yeastiness in the aroma and a smooth malty character. There are just enough hops for a crispness that makes it a really refreshing beer.

Celtic Red- Monteith’s Dry Kilned Celtic Beer froths up with a slightly roasted chocolate aroma from special kilning. This develops an invigoratingly dry, thirst-quenching characteristic in the beer.

Black -Monteith’s crisp and smooth Black is crisper than sweet darks and smoother than harsh stouts. It’s a beer that is crafted from a blend of five premium malts to create a complex depth of flavours with coffee notes dominant.

Seasonals

Summer Ale -First we chose four different malts to give a smooth heart, then spiced it gently with a single hop variety. With the addition of traditional spices and the finishing touch of a little rata honey, the result is unique.

Dopplebock Winter Ale -Monteith’s Dopplebock Winter Ale is a robust brew, faithful to its Bavarian origins. It’s full-malty flavour is due to the crafting of four premium malts, delivering a voluptuous beer with a firey red hue.

 

Brewery Photos

The Monteith tasting room. We were served 3 oz glasses of Original Ale, Pilsner, Black

Crushed Apple Cider, Celtic Red Ale, Golden Lager, and Radler (which was by far the

most disgusting - (think Countrytime lemonade mixed with Coors)

 

Stewart Monteith - one of the orginal founders

 

Kiwis often hold Aussies in low regard

 

This is how it's made

 

All equipment at the brewery was hand made on site - some of it many years ago. The

mash tun

 

The lauter tun

 

Giant open fermenters

 

The bright tanks

 

Bottling line

 

Keg line

 

Bored engineers come up with an ingenious use for old kegs

 

 

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