* Note: the picture above is the last of the mash run-off from the latest beer brewed in my Wellington home brewery... the place where my blood, sweat and tears are included in the final product (though not on the ingredients list).

"Contract brewing"... this used to be a dirty word to me. It wasn't "authentic". It was made for people who wanted to make some dollars but didn't want to take a risk or put in any effort. People who wanted their own brand but that weren't adding anything to the beer world. My view has obviously changed in the last few years but, from what I could make out on my recent trip to Melbourne, contract brewing still appears to be a dirty word in Australia. I'm not exactly sure why.

From my personal point of view, contract brewing was never an option. Until, in an instant, it became the only decision I could make. I had a beer that needed to be made and an idea of the perfect place to make it, right then and there. I soon came to learn that it is completely different to what my prior prejudice had led me to believe.

A few points on why contract brewing is good...

• It is affordable - while some people might be able to afford to jump into brewery ownership right at the moment, this other Yeastie Boy certainly cannot afford the emotional or financial risk.
• It means we can stay in complete control the Yeastie destiny - bringing in investors (to buy stainless steel) runs the risk of bringing in people who push the business in a direction we don't care for.
• It allows us the freedom of expression - brewing on a plant we don't own may cost us more on a batch to batch basis but it gives us a wider spectrum of risk in what we brew and allows us to spend more time thinking about seasonals and annual releases than meeting day-to-day demand of a range of "standard" beers that someone tells us the market demands.
• It allows us, and the contract brewer, far better economies of scale - Isn't economies of scale a term that big breweries talk about it? Well, if it is, it should be one that smaller breweries talk about more. Most craft breweries in New Zealand are running significantly below capacity (even if they don't think they are) and, in doing so, are wasting valuable dollars paying for underutilised land and plant. You can't be a great brewery unless you are a very good business.
• It educates brewer - every beer that someone makes for a contract brewing company is a chance to learn something practical that they may only otherwise learnt in theory. 
• It allows brewers to be brewers. Wow, what a thought - a brew team who focus on brewing, fermentation, bottling/kegging, cleaning, fixing, cleaning and more cleaning... and all the other bits and pieces around running a brewery. They don't have to worry about where there money is coming from or where the sales are going!
• It can be completely rewarding without being as limiting as a full time brewery. It allows us time to develop recipes from home while not worrying about the day to day running of a brewery. It allows me to continue to pursue a concurrent career that I find equally interesting and rewarding (even if nobody else does). It allows me the time to be a dad and a husband (well, sort of).

Sure, there are reasons why owning your own brewery is a great thing... you can feel like a proud parent, you can polish your stainless, you can say that your beer is real and that your blood sweat and tears are in the final product... an important consideration is that it is significantly cheaper than contract brewing (if you are successful).  But wait [tongue in cheek here]... the bank still "owns" your plant, and your landlord owns the land, and your brewer does most of the brewing, your admin staff keep the brewery ticking over. Is your beer any more real?

First and foremost, we are beer lovers. As a drinker and a consumer, I don't really care where my beer is made. I'm not concerned about the structure of the company (or companies) involved in making it, about the ingredients used in making it, about whether it is "pure" or not. I care about how it tastes. And I care about the people I meet in the industry - from the brewers, to the owner, to their parents, their admin staff and their friends who pop in for a pint or a takeaway bottle (or keg!).

Now, let's take a look at New Zealand as a case in point: 5 of the top 10 beers on www.ratebeer.com are contract brewed. And one of the others in that top ten is made by a brewery who has a fair bit of beer contract brewed now (though not that top 5 beer itself, as far as I am aware).

The market for New Zealand beer lovers would be an unhappier place without contract brewing. Sure, there have been contract brewers who have come and gone whose beer I've not cared much for. But the same applies to "real" breweries. How happy would you be, as a consumer, if the following breweries/beers were all to disappear from your local pub, bottle store or supermarket tomorrow:

• Yeastie Boys
• Epic
• 8 Wired
• Mussel Inn (keg and 330ml)
• Pink Elephant (much of the keg and 330ml beers we are seeing around now)
• The Twisted Hop (kegs and 500ml bottles)
• Golden Ticket
• Liberty Brewing

And these are only the few that spring to mind right now... I am positive there will also be more in the very near future.

As New Zealand's second-best brewer said in August 2009 (upon winning New Zealand Champion Brewery): competition is great for the consumer. I believe the new breed of contract brewing - a group that we are incredibly proud to be a part of - goes a step further than this. With this model, the extra competition and collaboration is great for the consumer. A beer we made through Invercargill Brewery inspired owner/brewer Steve Nally to tweak one of his own beers, a beer that is now tasting even better than usual. Whatever we brew, through any brewery, there is a fantastic chance for their brewer(s) to learn. Drinkers get great beer, the brewer (and brewery) get paid, we get the chance to express ourselves...

Everyone wins. Is there anything else we can ask for?