Creative Junction Magazine August 4th | Page 25

CREATIVE JUNCTION PAGE 23 Brewed to Perfection I t was nearly three years ago that the Gwynne brothers launched their Waipu-based brewery. McLeod’s Brewery is now tickling the tastebuds of reviewers nationwide. Located behind the McLeod’s Pizza Barn, the custom-built brewery now boasts award-winning drinks from lager to stout. The enterprise was the brainchild of brothers, Geoff and Clayton Gwynne. After owning the Pizza Barn for more than a decade the duo were ready for another challenge. “Waipu’s Pizza Barn was already a ‘thing’ when we bought it,” says Geoff. “We put our fingerprint on it by draping it in more tartan than a McLeod within earshot of Dunvegan. We then hired half the village and worked alongside them in the kitchen and at the bar. All was grand.. except the beer.” The brewery was built by Metropolitan Architecture Studio in 2014. The brothers remember spending summers at Waipu Cove, so keeping the community-focus was important to Geoff and Clayton when creating the brewery. “We wanted to create a product that Northlanders would be proud to call their own,” says Geoff. “That meant focussing on the various cultures that make up Waipu’s heritage.” Each beer brewed draws inspiration from local culture, from Scottish to Maori. “I get a kick out of what it was like her 120 years ago,” says Geoff. “I love the fact that we’re taking it back to that small, local brewery.” But McLeod’s is fast becoming more than ‘that small, local brewery’, the team recently scooped up a gold medal in the 2017 New World Beer and Cider awards. The award- winning ‘Tropical Cyclone’ boasts aromas of peach and papaya with a deftly balanced bitterness and full ‘hoppy’ flavour. The range of beer is offered on tap at the McLeod’s Pizza Barn in Waipu as well as the Old Stone Butterfactory in Whangarei. Stockists can be found online at www.mcleodsbrewery.co.nz.