the brewing industry<\/a>.<\/p>\nPeople were choosing to drink less, but when they did have a drink, they were prioritising quality, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you\u2019ve got a story to tell and something that resonates with people, they are willing to still buy beer, drink it,\u201d Briar said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just more pushing like the craft side, the quality ingredients, the quality craftsmanship, and the story behind the beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Brewers Guild of New Zealand, the brewing industry contributed $3.58 billion to New Zealand\u2019s annual GDP last year.<\/p>\n
It represents 0.9% of national GDP, with excise tax and GST making up 52% of this. Beer-related tax revenue amounted to $1.7b last year. <\/p>\n
The guild said low- and no-alcohol beer consumption had increased 750% since 2019, while consumption of high-alcohol beers (above 5% ABV) increased 15%.<\/p>\n
![\"Upgrades]()
Upgrades such as a new canning machine and a 10,000-litre fermenter have boosted Mount Brewing Co\u2019s efficiency and production capacity.<\/p>\n
Mount Brewing Co has earned multiple national and international awards in its 30 years. <\/p>\n
The brewery has won numerous medals at the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) and various New Zealand beer competitions. <\/p>\n
\u201cI still think people are keen for that crafty beer,\u201d Briar said. <\/p>\n
Its biggest seller is the Mermaid\u2019s Mirth APA, which won a gold medal at AIBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beer\u2019s kind of talking for itself,\u201d Niall said. <\/p>\n
He said the brewery was his and Briar\u2019s \u201clittle child\u201d when the pair first came into the business as directors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work really hard, with every beer that we produce, every time we produce it, we\u2019re using the best ingredients we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mount Brewing Co appointed Pawel Lewandowski as head brewer in 2019, and Niall said the brewery\u2019s beer was tasting the \u201cbest it ever has\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The branding evolution of Mermaids\u00a0Mirth, the brewery’s biggest seller.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may be a bit biased, but I think it\u2019s a testament to the brewers. They\u2019ve worked really hard to get the beer to where it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n
To mark 30 years, the brewery will release a limited-edition mixed pack with six specially brewed beers that pay homage to its journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re strong moving into the next 30 years and excited for what the next 30 will bring,\u201d Briar said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve built a community around the brewery, which we\u2019ve put our own stamp on,\u201d Niall said.<\/p>\n
Brewers Guild of New Zealand executive director Melanie Kees said reaching 30 years was a \u201cmajor achievement\u201d for any independently owned brewery in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilestones like this show that, despite the economic pressures businesses are facing, there are some great success stories out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kees said it was rare for a brewery to remain family\u2011run for multiple generations, and many breweries didn\u2019t make it that far. <\/p>\n
\u201cMount Brewing are one of the early pioneers, who no doubt helped shape the industry as we know it today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaitlyn Morrell<\/a> is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI guess for me, it\u2019s [the brewery] just always been part of my life,\u201d Briar told the Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3589,806,26861,43295,138,9632,108263,2109,78,13233,111,139,69,7497,1530],"class_list":{"0":"post-308820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-3589","9":"tag-as","10":"tag-brewery","11":"tag-brewing","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-celebrates","14":"tag-co","15":"tag-family","16":"tag-in","17":"tag-mount","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-nz","21":"tag-owned","22":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}