This month's Brewery of the Month is Hallertau Brewery in West Auckland, so we caught up with founder and brewer Steve Plowman to find out what's been happening behind the scenes... MF:  What was your background before beer and what inspired you to start Hallertau Brewery? My background was actually Geology, but I’ve been a homebrewer since 1990. The inspiration for starting Hallertau was friendly pubs of Ireland where a few generations of family had pulled a pint, the beer gardens of English pubs or the Franconia brewpubs of southern Germany that made us feel at home, even though we wer ..read more

This month's Brewery of the Month is Shortjaw Brewing from Westport, which was founded in 2021 by Luke Robertson and Emma Bemrose (pictured above). We caught up with Luke to find out what it's been like to start up a brewery in his home town, where their inspiration comes from, and what the hell is a Shortjaw?  MF: What was your background before brewing and why did you decide to start a brewery? I studied journalism in Invercargill not long out of high school, but I always loved pubs and hospitality. I moved to Melbourne and began blogging about beer, thinking I might get some free ..read more

This month's Brewery of the Month is Canyon Brewing from Queenstown. We had a quick yarn with Head Brewer Kit Clinton-Baker, to find out what's been happening behind the scenes...  MF: What inspired you to start Canyon Brewing? There aren’t many places where you can do your dream job & live in the place you love! MF: I visited your brewery last year and was blown away by the scenery. What's it like to work in such a beautiful location? Incredible. I can literally finish work and either be at the lake, river or mountain bike tracks within 5 minutes. M ..read more

This month's Brewery of the Month is Sawmill Brewery from Matakana. We thought we'd take this opportunity to catch up co-owner Kirsty McKay, to find out more about what's been happening behind the scenes...  MF: What inspired you to start your own brewery? We both love beer and wanted to make something tangible and something that our community wanted. The brewery already existed, it was VERY micro when we took over, but already a community asset which I hope people feel like it remains. MF: You're an independent brewery. What does independence mean to you? When we started out there ..read more