As Garage Project and Parrotdog mark 10 years in business, Michael Donaldson reflects on how their very different beginnings have become their strengths…

Ten years ago, two Wellington breweries opened – their contrasting styles defined their decade to follow – and yet each has managed to become a powerhouse of the craft revolution.

Parrotdog launched their brewery with a single beer that was a near disaster after they scaled up their homebrew recipe to a 1200 litre batch; while at the other end of the spectrum Garage Project launched over a 24-week period with 24 different beers – almost all of them perfect from the get-go.

Parrotdog’s Bitterbitch IPA won the People’s Choice Award at Beervana in 2011 after the overly bitter brew was rescued with a huge dry-hop dose of Nelson Sauvin to lift the perceived sweetness. On the back of that cult beer with the edgy name (currently available in an anniversary six-pack), Parrotdog opened a brewery in Wellington’s Vivian St, before two rounds of crowd-funding took them to a new brewery and adjoining pub in Lyall Bay. 

To this day, their range remains focused and tight with a core range of rock-solid, mostly hop-forward beers. After some time finding their feet as they explored different one-offs they have now found their groove with occasional 440ml single can releases all bearing the name of someone important to the brewery: Lucy, Denise, Steve, Lloyd, Glen, Tina, Terry … it’s a cute conceit for a brewery, whose name is based on a couple of household pets, to have pet names for their beers.

From their small and humble beginnings, Parrotdog have played the volume game to great success with their core range; looking to win over consumers with competitively priced 6- and 12-packs and hitting the jackpot with their massively popular Birdseye Hazy IPA, which went through the roof sales-wise on confluence of three critical factors: hazy, six-pack, value.

While Parrotdog’s success is an archetypal craft beer journey from home brewing to professional, Garage Project entered the market on the back of a fully-fledged brewer in Pete Gillespie.

Gillespie had worked in top breweries around the world, such as the centuries-old Brakspear’s in London and Malt Shovel in Sydney. Teaming up with younger brother Ian and Ian’s best friend Jos Ruffell, they audaciously launched on the back of their 24/24 series of 24 different beers released over 24 weeks, with just a keg of each going on tap at Hashigo Zake in Wellington.

Garage Project have stayed true to that eclecticism over the past 10 years. According to the beer rating site Untappd, Garage Project have released 516 beers in 10 years and you don’t have to be a whizz at maths to realise that’s a new beer every week.

Amazingly, many of the original 24/24 series are still in production, such as Pernicious Weed, Trip Hop, Aro Noir, Red Rocks, Day of the Dead, Hāpi Daze and even Hazy Days (a beer that was well ahead of its time).

Garage Project stayed quick and nimble by out-sourcing many of their core range beers to bStudio in Napier, allowing their small Aro Street brewery to focus on the low-volume, high rotation releases. They also have their Wild Workshop for more esoteric, long-term projects such as barrel-aged and wild-fermented beers.

Garage Project’s focus on FOMO with their limited-supply releases – many of which are available only through the online store or at their two taprooms in Wellington and Auckland – means they are constantly being talked about. There’s always something new, different, weird or not-to-miss.

Parrotdog, on the other hand, focus on delivering what you might call high-quality fridge fillers at a good price – such as their multi-award winning Falcon APA – with special releases coming out monthly rather than weekly.

The good news for beer fans is that both models seem to work brilliantly and these two breweries are set to further influence the craft landscape for many years to come.

Michael Donaldson is a Beer Writer of the Year, journalist and author

beernation.co.nz