TUATARA

One of the originals and the leading lights of New Zealand's craft beer revolution, Tuatara Brewery are this year celebrating their fifteenth birthday. OMG, they're teenagers! In 2000, Carl Vasta, engineer by profession and home brewer by compulsion, established Tuatara in the hills above Waikanae, building it by hand from modified you-name-it. It didn't take long before his superb range of ales, porters and pilsners, with their unique Kiwi-esque twists, became a big hit.

Since those early days, Tuatara has established an impressive reputation and are looking much flasher in the stainless steel department. Needless to say, there have been awards. In addition to their core range of classic styles, Tuatara also produce a brilliant selection of New World styles, Belgium classics and a series of nifty seasonals and one-offs. Thinking outside the box? That's what they do.