A long time between drinks...

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blog updates in 2011. It would be fair to say it has been a crazy busy year so far. So we thought it was time to give you a brief run down on what you've missed...

• Summer was busy with the summer beer festivals. We only did a handfull this year, but they were all great days. Thank you Tairua, Mt Maunganui, Rotorua and Auckland. (Jan-Mar)
• Paul participated in the NZCraftBeerTV collaborative brew in Auckland - the resulting MASH UP ale is on tap right now at BREW - I'll explain what BREW is shortly (Feb)
• We closed a deal to open a craft beer pub in Rotorua... scary times! (April)
• Launched Croucher PATRIOT in bottles - this is our extremely hoppy American Black Ale. Co-incided with our first major keg shipment to Australia (April)
• DISASTER... while dancing (yes, dancing) in the brewery, Paul danced the sole off one of his boots! they don't make steel-capped workboots like they used too! (April)
• Some guy tried to sell one of our kegs on Trade Me... thanks to the Hamilton Craft Beer Mafia the culprite was apprehended. (April)
• Our brewery posted a comment on our Facebook page "Dear Nigel and Paul, where are you? Love, The Brewery." It was a lonely time - we barely saw the brewery for 2 months!
• BREW | Craft Beer Pub (http://brewpub.co.nz/) opened it's doors after 6 weeks of renovation, council compliance, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. It was all consuming... we even had a facebook message from t he brewery  (May)
• We won medals at the prestegious Australian International Beer Awards - Croucher Pilsner (Silver) and Pale Ale (Bronze). Chuffed!
• Paul Mecurio came to town and shot a food show, including Paul and the brewery. He cooked Pheasant using Mrs Claus' Famous Christmas Cake Ale. Yumbo. Paul (Mecurio) is a great guy too, LOVES his craft beer!
• Croucher PATRIOT was the inaugural WINNER of the NZ Beer Cup!! Beating a host of other top craft beers to the title! Super Chuffed! (June)

So there you have it - it's been quite leisurely really!

Please come visit us at BREW next time you are in Rotorua. And thanks for your support.

Nigel & Paul
Croucher Brewing