WE WERE BORN DURING THE INFANCY OF THE NZ CRAFT BREWER REVOLUTION

when brewers sculpted a unique identity that is rich in kiwi spirit and adventure. Fired on by this brewer break-away, 8 Wired has always stood for innovation and ingenuity.

That was when my future wife, Monique, gave me the classic Coopers homebrew kit.
We were living in Perth at the time and I brewed my first “lagers” in the blistering Western Australian summer, without any kind of cooling or knowledge. Needless to say the beers were awful, but I was hooked none the less

A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER WE HAD MOVED TO NEW ZEALAND AND I STARTED DABBLING MORE INTO SPECIALTY GRAINS AND HOPS.

Before long I was brewing all grain beers and the hobby was taking a stronghold on my life. Somehow Monique and I persuaded ourselves to take the leap to professional brewing and we devised a plan to start a brew pub, preferably at a quiet beach community somewhere in the North Island. To gain some commercial experience I got a job at Renaissance Brewing in Blenheim.

THE PLAN WAS TO STAY THERE FOR 3 MONTHS, BUT WE QUICKLY REALIZED THAT WE LACKED THE CAPITAL OR EXPERIENCE TO START OUR OWN BREWERY.

Instead I continued to work for Renaissance and after a year they generously let us rent their equipment and tanks when they were available. Thus 8 Wired Brewing came to life as a contract brewery.

We brewed our first beer in October 2009 and things went fast from there.

IN 2011 WE RECEIVED THE HIGHEST BREWING HONOUR AWARDED IN NEW ZEALAND AS WE WERE CROWNED CHAMPION BREWERY AT THE BREWERS GUILD AWARDS.

The past 4 years we have also been featured on the prestigious Ratebeer.com list of “100 best brewers in the World”, as the only Southern Hemisphere brewery.