Pioneering New Zealand brewing company Yeastie Boys is celebrating ten years of brewing by taking a celebration tour around New Zealand, kicking off in Auckland this Friday before heading down to Wellington.
The ten-year celebration comes off the back of the announcement that Yeastie Boys has partnered with Auckland’s Urbanaut Brewing Co. From 1 October 2018 Yeastie Boys’ beers will not only be brewed for the New Zealand market by Urbanaut, as they have been for the last year, but the national sales and distribution of the brand will also be managed by the Kingsland-based brewing company.
“Since transitioning our production to Urbanaut and watching their progress over the past year, we have been impressed by everything they have done in the New Zealand market, especially in Auckland,” said Yeastie Boys creative director Stu McKinlay. “The team at Urbanaut have been good friends since before they even went into business, and have been contract brewing our beer for the last year, so we decided to talk to them about the possibility of managing the entire process and allowing us to keep our limited time and energy focused on Europe and overall brand development.”
The strengthening of the partnership with Yeastie Boys comes at a perfect time for Urbanaut, who are currently investing in brewery equipment – including new tanks and a state of the art canning line – and are further developing their sales and distribution function.
“Yeastie Boys are the original originators, they have an off-centred approach to beer that is both inspiring and complementary to our range” said Bruce Turner, Urbanaut founder and director. “They’re an established brand with a strong fan base in New Zealand and we’ll be able to boost their presence here by utilising and promoting the aggressive seasonal innovation they have just kicked off in Europe. Building their range into our model works in perfectly with our own growth plans, by allowing us to get the best efficiencies out of our team, invest in state-of-the-art equipment to make beer of the highest quality and together we plan to lead the evolution of beer in New Zealand.”
The announcement follows a similar arrangement for Yeastie Boys in Australia, where Sydney’s Nomad Brewing took over the operational and tactical management of Yeastie Boys’ brand in January 2017. The innovative model has successfully increased sales in Australia by 1200 percent. “In this increasingly competitive craft beer space, the strength of having an integrated model and a strong in-market presence cannot be understated” said Yeastie Boys directive creator Sam Possenniskie. “Our agreement with Urbanaut gives both companies an opportunity to do better with what we were already doing.”
Yeastie Boys will hand over the keys to their New Zealand brewing and sales on 1 October.
