Steam Brewing Company

Steam Brewing Company started in October 1995 with a little English pub out front of the brewery in East Tamaki, Auckland. The pub was called Cock & Bull. Nearly 10 years later and with the opening of 5 pubs (by May 2005) the brewery was too small and a new brewery was needed. In July 2004, Steam Brewing Company purchased the Auckland Breweries plant. Which also included a packaging line giving Steam Brewing Company the opportunity to enter the packaged beer market.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Full ‘steam’ ahead for champion Kiwi brewery

New Zealand’s top performing boutique brewery, Steam Brewing Company, has once again dominated the Australian International Beer Awards on behalf of the Kiwi contingent. Proud owner of both Steam Brewing Company and Cock & Bull pub chain, Kieran Meyer, is humbled that a small, wholly New Zealand-owned brewery has yet again taken on the world's best and come out on top.

Steam Brewing Company led the Kiwi charge at the Australian International Beer Awards – announced in Melbourne on May 5 - bringing home more silverware than any other New Zealand brewery, including some of this country’s ‘big’ players. The Australian International Beer Awards attracted amber liquid entries from breweries around the globe including the U.S.A, England, Japan, Italy, Australia, Wales and Malaysia.

Steam Brewing Company’s impressive trophy and medal haul included one trophy and two gold medals for its high-strength Monks Habit ale; a silver and a bronze medal for its English-style Fuggles ale; and one silver and one bronze medal for its flavoursome Chubby IV brew.

Steam Brewing Company substantially increased its production capacity last year when it bought the entire Auckland Breweries operation - with an annual production potential of two million litres of beer. By comparison, Steam Brewing Company’s original boutique brewery in Pakuranga had an annual brewing capacity of 300,000 litres.

“These awards demonstrate how successfully Steam Brewing Company has made the transition from being a small brewery into a medium-sized brewing company without losing any of the quality of our beers,” Mr Meyer said.

Based in South Auckland, Steam Brewing Company predominantly brews for the independently-owned Cock & Bull chain of pubs – at Ellerslie, Lynfield and Botany in Auckland, and at Te Rapa on the outskirts of Hamilton. A new Cock & Bull pub is scheduled to open in Newmarket, Auckland, on June 15.

"For years, drinkers at the Cock & Bull pubs have known how good our beers are – that’s why we’ve been growing so fast as a company, with new bars opening in Hamilton and Auckland,” Mr Meyer said.

Steam Brewing Company head brewer, Luke Nicholas is rightly proud of his beers saying: "This latest impressive trophy and medal haul from Australia shows what can be done when you invest in a quality product. We're not about being the biggest... but we are about being the best. And with a 'best in class' trophy, two gold, two silver and two bronze medals from just four beers entered, we've shown that by far.”

Cock & Bull has also won awards for its business acumen claiming the prestigious Westpac Trust Supreme Award, HANZ Excellence Awards including the 2004 HANZ Awards for best beef and best lamb dish bringing the total medal and trophy collection to over 150 National and International awards.

posted by Unknown @ 4:05 pm