Home of Tuatara

At the Malthouse, we are proud to be the home of Tuatara – Wellington’s best beers without a doubt.

The award-winning Tuatara brewery was founded in 2001 by brewer Carl Vasta and local publicans Sean Murrie and Fraser McInnes.

We don’t believe in singing our own praises round here… so we will let Beer Writer Neil Miller do it for us:

Nestled in the foothills of the mighty Tararuas, a brewery built on kiwi ingenuity and helmed by a young veteran produces the Tuatara craft beer range.

Carl Vasta honed his brewing skills at the long-departed Polar Brewery and the much-missed Parrot and Jigger before setting up Tuatara with the support of the Malthouse and Bar Bodega.

His range of beers are made true to style and use quality ingredients and clean snow-melt water. “I’m trying to make the classic European styles as close to their traditional definition as possible,” says Vasta

Sean Murrie from the Malthouse says “Carl goes the extra distance to get the ingredients from source. He uses centuries of continental brewing knowledge to make a consistently fantastic product.”

Fraser MacInnes, [former] owner of the iconic Bar Bodega, says the market for Tuatara is “developing in leaps and bounds. We have been extending the brewery and the range to meet demand.”

Ease into the range with the Tuatara Pilsner (5%). Made with Czech yeast, malt and hops, this beer has a floral, grassy nose followed by a smooth malty middle with some late citric tingles. A long, dry finish with touches of lime makes this an effortlessly balanced and most drinkable drop.

Tuatara India Pale Ale (5%) showcases the popular style of strong, hoppy beer originally developed to survive the long voyage to colonists in the Raj. A rich, burnished gold, the IPA throws an enchantingly deep hoppy nose. Full in the mouth, there is some appropriate tropical fruitiness before an imperial bitter finish.

One to shake up your beer preconceptions is the Tuatara Hefe (5%). Hefeweizen literally means “yeast in wheat beer” and the suspended yeast gives the beer the characteristic (and desired) cloudiness. The classical aroma and flavour characteristics are there – vanilla, banana, juicyfruit gum and spicy cloves. Challenging to some palates, this beer is spritzy and quenching.

The Ardennes Ale (6.5%) is a robust and boisterous beverage. Based on the Belgian strong ale style, it has a rich nose of hops, oranges and spices. The big, chewy body follows through with more orange, spice, pepper and the trademark funky Belgian yeast. A complex bitter fruity aftertaste rounds out this brew.

Tuatara Porter (5%) is almost black with a moussey head while the nose is rich, dark and peaty. The beer is slightly creamy with lashings of malt sweetness, chocolate and some burnt Vogels toast notes. This Porter closes with a short, sharp finish.

This article originally appeared in The Wellingtonian newspaper.