Steve Nally, Invercargill Brewery

Steve Nally, Invercargill Brewery.

Owner of New Zealand’s southern-most brewery (now that the brewery on Stewart Island has closed), Steve Nally discovered beer about 25 years ago. After reading a home brew article, he gave brewing a go but with less than pleasant results, so the second time around he ditched the homebrew kit and upscaled to a tin of Maltexo and real hops. Now, a quarter of a century on, Steve is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most talented brewers.

Willing enough to experiment, Steve knows the only way to improve is to learn and the only way to learn is to try. This has lead to successive Gold Medal trophies at the BrewNZ awards for Smokin’ Bishop (2007) and Boysenbeery (2008). Just on the side, he managed to pick up another 2 golds with Biman Lager (pronounced bee-man) and Pitch Black
Stout. The brewery now produces four year-round beers—Stanley Green Pale Ale and Wasp Honey Pilsner accompanying Biman and Pitch Black.

While touring Europe on an OE some years ago Steve developed a cider ‘fetish’ and also
produces Nallys’ Cider, while this year sees the release of a Heritage Cider, whereby the public were asked to bring any locally grown apples to make a one-off special batch.

Invercargill Brewery has also fostered a close relationship with the Yeastie Boys. One of the Yeasties,Stu McKinlay, is good friends with Steve and when thetime came to start production it all came together. “We didn’t start this to make our own brewery,” says Stu “we wanted to make beer, so it made sense to use spare capacity within an existing brewery and partner with one of the best brewing minds in the country”. Hence the Yeastie Boys now travel from Auckland & Wellington to Invercargill four times a year to brew under Steve’s watchful eye.

Steve’s talents extend further than brewing. He is also consulting with the Hokonui Moonshine Museum in Gore as they look to install a working distillery. One thing is for sure; nothing stands still at New Zealand’s southernmost brewery.