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.