Speight's is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

located in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. The brewery is owned by the Japanese-controlled holding company

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

. It is best known for its Gold Medal Ale, one of the best-selling beers in New Zealand. The brewery also gave rise to a chain of ''Speight's Ale House'' gastropubs across the country.

History

The brewery was established on Rattray Street, Central Dunedin in 1876 by James Speight, Charles Greenslade and William Dawson after they had left their positions at ''Wellpark Brewery'' (known today as the

Tennent Caledonian Tennent Caledonian is a brewery based in Glasgow, Scotland. The Wellpark Brewery is situated in the city's East End, between the Townhead and Dennistoun districts along Duke Street. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn ...

). In 1880, Speight's won a gold medal at the Melbourne International Exhibition, giving rise to the ''Speight's Gold Medal Ale'' brand. By 1887 it had become the largest brewery in New Zealand, and had expanded to a sufficient size that it exported beer to Australia and the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of ...

. In 1923, Speight's merged with nine other breweries to form

New Zealand Breweries Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in New Zealand, accounting for 63% of available alcohol for sale. At around 64.7 litres per person per annum, New Zealand is ranked 27th in global beer consumption per capita. The vast majority of beer p ...

- in the same year, founder William Dawson died. In 1960, New Zealand Breweries rebranded to ''Lucky Beer'' in an attempt to simplify the range, however this change lasted only two months before the Speight's brand name was re-established in October of that year. In 1977, New Zealand Breweries was purchased by Lion. In 2001, production expanded to the

brewery in Newmarket,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Brands

Speight's Gold Medal Ale is the brewery's best known beer. Though marketed as an ale, as it was in the past, it is actually a New Zealand Draught-style lager, brewed using

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "stora ...

yeast and lagering techniques. In addition to its main Gold Medal Ale brand, Speight's also produces beers under the ''Speight's Summit'' and the ''Speight's Craft'' ranges of beer, the latter including the ''Speight's Old Dark'', ''Speight's Distinction Ale'', and ''Speight's Triple Hop Pilsner'', all of which are lagers of varying colour. Speight's range of beer is not gluten-free. Speight's also produces an apple cider.

The Speight's Building

The Speight's brewery building is a prominent landmark in Central Dunedin, located just to the west of The Exchange at the corner of Rattray and Maclaggan Streets and extending up the hill into City Rise. The earliest parts of the building date back to its first inception in 1876, with several major extensions and renovations in the years since, most notably extensions in 1938 designed by

Harry Mandeno Henry Thomas Mandeno (20 June 1879 – 20 August 1973) was a New Zealand modernist architect. Early life Mandeno was born in 1879 at Te Awamutu to John Howe Mandeno and Margaret Caroline (née Leighton), and was educated at St John's College i ...

. The most recent renovation was to provide earthquake strengthening in 2012–14. Regular guided tours of the building are run by the company for members of the public.

Marketing

Speight's label features three eight-pointed stars. These stars come from both the original provincial arms of

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, and the fact that Speight's was awarded gold medals at brewery awards in three different countries in 1877. More recently, Speight's Southern man advertising campaign has been popular and long running. Speight's main marketing slogan, "Pride of the South", has been used in association with these advertisements for a number of years. One popular advertisement featured the Cardrona Hotel pub. Speight's later built a loose replica of this building in Mt Eden,

, as part of its national marketing scheme. At the site of their Dunedin plant the company has installed a tap that pumps water up from a spring deep below the brewery, thus providing fresh, pure water free of charge. This tap was at the centre of an April Fool's joke in 1998 when the Otago Daily Times reported that, just for that day, Speight's beer would flow, free of charge, from that tap.

Sponsorship

Speight's has a long-standing relationship with

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

in the

and Southland regions. In 1977, the brewery began sponsoring the Dunedin club championship. The brewery currently has sponsorship arrangements with the

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 compet ...

Otago Rugby Football Union The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in t ...

, and Southland Rugby Football Union.

References

External links

Speight's official Site

Lion
official page {{coord, -45.876374, 170.499959, display=title Breweries of New Zealand Companies based in Dunedin Kirin Group 1876 establishments in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Dunedin Harry Mandeno buildings Central Dunedin