You. Drink. This. #9 - New Kids On the Block Edition

Matt Eats from Pacific Coast Brewery

You:

I’m Matt Eats and I look after sales for Pacific Coast Brewery and am Head Brewer at Small Gods Brewing. I grew up in the UK and moved to New Zealand 15 years ago with my family. After a long stretch of homebrewing I joined the beer industry in Auckland nine years ago, working my way up to General Manager at Brothers Beer and then the Beer Jerk/Small Gods/The Fridge and Flagon group before joining the team at Pacific Coast for our launch this year. I’ve always had a passion for flavour and design so I love to work on every element of a beer, from the initial high concept to recipe design, process and packaging. It’s my favourite part of the job to bring innovative, exciting and beautifully packaged beers to the market. When I’m not making delicious things I’m mostly busy with tabletop gaming, sci-fi and wrangling my two toddlers.

Drink:

I’m focussing on interesting sessionable beers at the moment. It’s great to find a drinkable and easygoing beer that’s still full of flavour. As a Pale Ale fan Pacific Coast’s Heatwave is really hitting the spot right now and Small Gods Gawain is pushing forward my Table Beer agenda (if you don’t know what a Table Beer is then seek one out, they’re the best). When I’m not on beer I’m slowly working my way through delicious single malt scotch one bottle at a time.

This:

Trying to perfect new recipes at home from scratch. I’m currently trying to master the four Roman pastas. Cacio e pepe, carbonara, amatriciana, and alla gricia. They’re super simple recipes that are all about quality ingredients and perfect technique. I’m getting there, but I haven’t nailed it yet.

Ed Bolstad, Alchemy Street Brewing

You:

After studying Chemistry at the University of Canterbury, I worked in a whole lot of different locations around New Zealand and Australia. This was in a wide variety of industries, and sometimes, in roles or occupations that I hated, but paid very well. Now, thanks to the support and encouragement from my friends, family and partner of many years, Kat, I get to do something that makes me happy instead.

So after the many years of homebrewing (call it the hobby stage), followed by a few years working in the Brewery at Cassels (I call it my adult apprenticeship), we have recently relocated back to Tauranga to be near our families and I started Alchemy Street Brewing.

When I'm not working on Alchemy Street Brewing business, my weekend side hustle is making full sized working arcade machines, which I then sell or rent out. It's a retro-nostalgia thing from my childhood (I'm a child of the 80's) that I got into during the first lockdown.

You could say I like to make things that make people happy.

Drink:

If you know me at all, you know there is one drink I can't live without...Coke! I'm seriously addicted to it. Cans only, none of that bottled rubbish. And now that I can't get Coke Zero (by far the best Coca Cola ever produced), it's Coke Zero Sugar for me.

Beer wise I'm always looking to try new things. I'm a huge fan of beer subscription services. I love having an assortment of beers delivered to me every month, especially when I don't have to choose them myself. It's a lazy beer drinkers dream.

This:

Apart from making sure I always have a carton of 30 cans of Coke in reserve, I'm obsessed with so many things.

At the top of my YouTube list is: Woodworking, furniture making, Dungeons and Dragons, and retro arcade games. I must be due for my quarterly history clearance to reset the algorithm again.

Ryan Gebbie, Thief Brewing

You:

Kia Ora, I'm Ryan Gebbie. I'm one of the co-founders of Thief Brewing. We've just opened our brewery in Tai Tapu, Canterbury. The plan is for an ever changing line up of beers guided by whatever floats our boat at the time - for me, that's likely to be a lot of hop heavy beers. We have a real focus on sustainability, our water is sourced from a bore onsite, our wastewater is treated onsite and used to irrigate the land, and our electric brewhouse is in the process of being set up with solar so we can source our power onsite.

I've been in and around the beer industry for a few years now. I first started with a little craft beer bar in the city after the quakes; when this didn't quench the thirst I thought I'd have a crack at a brewery.

Drink:

Our first beer is yet to come out of the fermenter, so in the meantime it would have to be Peckham's Farmhouse cider.

This:

Trying to squeeze some travelling in now that we can - always on the hunt for a great Laksa.