Speight's

Last updated

[ attribution needed ]

Speight's
Company typePrivate
IndustryBeverages
Founded1876
FoundersJames Speight, Charles Greenslade, William Dawson
Headquarters Dunedin, New Zealand
ProductsLagers and ales
Parent Lion (a subsidiary of Kirin)
Website www.speights.co.nz

Speight's is a beer brand and a brewery located in Dunedin, New Zealand. The brand is owned by the Japanese-controlled holding company Lion, itself a subsidiary of Kirin. Speight's is best known for its Gold Medal Ale, one of the best-selling beers in New Zealand.[ citation needed ] The brewery also includes a chain of "Speight's Ale House" gastropubs across the country.

Contents

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). 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. In 1923, Speight's merged with nine other breweries to form New Zealand Breweries—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 Lion brewery in Newmarket, Auckland. [1]

Brands

Sign at the Speight's Brewery in Dunedin Speight Brewery Sign.jpg
Sign at the Speight's Brewery in Dunedin

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 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. [2]

Speight's also produces an apple cider.

The Speight's Building

Part of the Speight's buildings in Dunedin showing the distinctive beer barrel atop the chimney. Speight's Brewery.jpg
Part of the Speight's buildings in Dunedin showing the distinctive beer barrel atop the chimney.

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. The most recent renovation was to provide earthquake strengthening in 2012–14. [3]

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, 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, Auckland, 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. [4]

Sponsorship

Speight's has a long-standing relationship with rugby union in the Otago and Southland regions. In 1977, the brewery began sponsoring the Dunedin club championship. The brewery currently has sponsorship arrangements with the Otago Highlanders, Otago Rugby Football Union, and Southland Rugby Football Union.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XXXX (beer)</span> Australian brand of beer

XXXX is a brand of Australian beer brewed in Milton, Brisbane, by Queensland brewers Castlemaine Perkins. It enjoys wide popularity in the state of Queensland, where it is commonly found on-tap in pubs and bars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tooheys Brewery</span> Australian brewery

Tooheys is a brewery in the suburb of Lidcombe, in Sydney, Australia. It produces beer under the Tooheys and Hahn Brewery trademarks, and is part of the Lion beverages group which was acquired by the Japanese Kirin Company in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevens Point Brewery</span> Regional brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Stevens Point Brewery is a regional American brewery located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The brewery is the fifth-oldest continuously operating brewery and the third-oldest privately owned brewery in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprecher Brewery</span> Craft brewery in Wisconsin, U.S.

Sprecher Brewery is a brewery in Glendale, Wisconsin, U.S. It was founded in 1985 in Milwaukee by Randal Sprecher, and is Milwaukee's first craft brewery since Prohibition. Sprecher produces an assortment of beers, flavored malt beverages, and craft sodas, and it is famous for its root beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinlager</span>

Steinlager is a lager-style beer brewed by Lion in East Tāmaki, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It has won several prizes, notably at beer competitions in the United States, and is New Zealand's biggest export beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DB Breweries</span> Brewing company in Auckland, New Zealand

DB Breweries is a New Zealand-based brewing company, owned by Heineken Asia Pacific. Founded in 1930 by Sir Henry Kelliher and W Joseph Coutts, the partners purchased Levers and Co. and the Waitemata Brewery Co. in Ōtāhuhu. Asia Pacific Breweries acquired DB Breweries in 2004, which in turn was bought-out by Heineken International in 2012. The company mainly produces pale lager, whilst its Tui brand is one of the better-known beers in New Zealand, partly due to strong advertising.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in New Zealand</span>

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 produced in New Zealand is a type of lager, either pale or amber in colour, and typically 4–5% alcohol by volume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lion Brewery, Inc.</span> United States historic place

Lion Brewery, Inc, is the operator of the Lion Brewery, located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1905. A "heritage brewery", it is one of only 10 United States pre-Prohibition breweries that has independently and continuously operated since the repeal of Prohibition. It produces beers under its own Lionshead brand, and contract brews beer for other companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern man</span>

In New Zealand, the southern man is a stereotypical male from the more rural South Island, well used to the solitude and conditions of open mountain or hill country, and completely out of his depth in the city. He is usually depicted as wearing an oilskin duster, Swanndri and slouch hat, an image closely related to Kiwi stockmen. This stereotype is closely connected with a common trope in New Zealand fiction, the man alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monteith's</span>

Monteith's Brewery Company was originally a family-owned brewing company until it was bought by DB Breweries. It continued to brew its beers on the West Coast of New Zealand until DB decided that the cost of keeping production there was no longer viable. The Greymouth brewery was closed on 22 March 2001, but reopened four days later following a public outcry.

Lion Red is a New Zealand lager beer brewed by Lion Breweries in Auckland, part of Lion a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. The beer is 4.0% alcohol. Because of its relatively low alcohol content it is widely regarded as an excellent 'session' beer, that is, a beer that can be consumed freely over a long session of time without all the adverse effects of a higher alcohol volume beer. As such, it is also a favourite of university students, along with similar strength beers such as Speights and DB Draught.

McCashin's Brewery, also known as Mac's Brewery in the past, is a small brewery based in Nelson, New Zealand. It was founded in 1980/81 by one of the pioneers of craft brewing, Terry McCashin, who produced the well-known Mac's beer. Today it produces Rochdale Cider and a range of Stoke beers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerson's Brewery</span> New Zealand microbrewery

Emerson's Brewery Limited is a microbrewery located in Dunedin, New Zealand established in 1992. Emerson's produces eight year-round beers and three seasonal beers. In November 2012 the brewery was purchased by Australasian company Lion, which in turn is owned by Japanese brewing giant Kirin.

Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fosters, Sagres, Cruzcampo, Skopsko, Affligem, Żywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Zlatý Bažant, Laško and Birra Moretti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malt Shovel Brewery</span> Australian brewery

The Malt Shovel Brewery is an Australian brewery owned by Lion, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Kirin. It is located in Camperdown, New South Wales. Malt Shovel is best known for its James Squire range of beers. The beer is named after the convict turned Australia's first brewer James Squire, who also went on to grow Australia's first hops and is said to have created Australia's first commercial brewery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian International Beer Awards</span> Annual brewing competition

Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) is an annual brewing competition that commenced in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lion (Australasian company)</span> Alcoholic beverage company operating in Australia and New Zealand, owned by Kirin

Lion is an alcoholic beverage company that operates in Australia and New Zealand, and a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. It produces and markets a range of beer and cider in Australia, and wine in New Zealand and the United States through Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners. It acts as distributors for a range of spirits in New Zealand, but does not own any distilleries outright, although holding a 50% share of Four Pillars Gin in Victoria.

Invercargill Brewery was the southernmost brewer of beer in New Zealand. It was established by Steve Nally in 1999 near Invercargill.

Lion Brewery or Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC is a predominantly Sri Lankan owned and operated brewery. The company is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange and its stock is part of the S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index. Lion Brewery produces the highest selling beer, Lion Lager, in both Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Maurice Joel was a prominent brewer and public figure in Dunedin, New Zealand.

References

  1. ↑ "Brand History," speights.co.nz, 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Is Speights gluten free?". Gluten Free Beer. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ↑ Houlahan, Mike "Historic brewery gets upgrade," stuff.co.nz, 17 August 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Celebratory offer of free beer should go down well". Otago Daily Times. 1 April 1998. Archived from the original on 15 August 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.

Further reading

45°52′35″S170°30′00″E / 45.876374°S 170.499959°E / -45.876374; 170.499959

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.