User:Croucher Brewing
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[edit] The Croucher Brewing Company
The quick facts:
- A brewer of boutique New Zealand beer.
- Based in the beautiful city of Rotorua.
- Handcrafted range of beers includes a Pale Ale, The Hef, and an exquisite Bohemium Pilsner.
- Can be found at http://croucherbrewing.co.nz
[edit] The Croucher Brewing Story
Picture this… a long long time ago (okay it was only the 90’s), far far away (in the deep south), a guy by the name of Paul Croucher had a dream. It started while as a student in Dunedin, took him around the world, and eventually back to his home town of Rotorua.
This dream? Well, Paul’s dream was to produce truly great premium New Zealand beer.
Paul had been a casual observer of New Zealand’s developing taste for flavour. Coffee drinkers have shifted from instant to exotic blends, while wine drinkers have switched from Chateau Cardboard to a raft of high-value high-quality varietals. Beer drinkers had been slower to embrace change having been indoctrinated by strong brand loyalty campaigns from the major breweries. However, a shift is occurring as this great nation’s beer drinkers look for greater substance and flavour from their beer than the traditional offerings provide.
Not surprisingly, this increasing awareness of beer’s character is mirroring what has occurred in the United States. New Zealand and the U.S. are both New World cultures and this is reflected in the maturity and development of their food and beverage industries. They were arguably the most regulated liquor markets in the world - each having real or virtual alcoholic prohibition. Subsequent to this, both countries have mass-produced beers with brand and consistency more important than character and flavour. However, a huge backlash has occurred in North America – brands such as Samuel Adams and Sierra Nevada are producing great beer and have changed the face of North American beer. Notwithstanding a minor hiccough in 1997, small American brewers have achieved double-digit growth over the past 25 years.
Once settled back in Rotorua, Paul looked to make his dream a reality. Starting by experimenting at home, Paul started to produce quality beer on a very small scale. In fact in 2004 he entered the Brew NZ brewing championship, and won the Non-Commercial Brewing Section with his Bohemian Pilsner.
This gave Paul, and business partner Nigel Gregory, greater confidence to forge ahead with a commercial brewery. The Croucher Brewing Company was set up in 2004, premises hired in January 2005, with brewing commencing in the second half of that year. After months of testing and experimentation, the first beer was sold in January 2006 at the mount Maunganui 'Blues, brews & BBQ's' event.
What drives us is caring more about great beer than great brands. While branding is still an important component of any modern business, it is creating superior beer that drives us. One of our goals is to challenge the Kiwi beer palate. To achieve this, we do everything we can to retain the natural flavours of the beer - we do not filter or pasteurise our beer.
If what we are trying to do has struck a chord with you, then please support us. Become a ‘Friend Of The Brewery’ (see our homepage) and we will keep you informed about what we are up to, where you can get a Croucher’s, as well as giveaways and more.
The Croucher Team
