Monteith's Brewing Company - NZ's Original Craft Brewery
Heres a bit of history!
The Monteith's Brewing Company - established 1868 - is located in Greymouth, on the West Coast of the South Island.
The legend began in the mid-1800's when a gold rush drew 30,000 adventurers to rugged West Coast. Prospectors always welcomed a satisfying beer at the end of the day and thankfully with over 300 pubs on the West Coast, there was always plenty of choice - 84 of them on one Hokitika street alone!
From humble origins in 1868, the William Monteith's family-owned phoenix brewery became the Coast's most popular brewery for its strong tasting, full-bodied ales. The Phoenix brewery later merged with a group of small breweries to form the Westland Brewing Company in 1927, predecessor to today's Monteith's Brewing Company.
Here, at Plan B, we are proud to serve the Monteith's range of fine craft beers fresh off the tap. Enjoy a Monteith's Black, Golden Ale, Original, Radler or Pilsner for $5.50 for a 330ml glass or perhaps a 585ml pint for $7.50.
Tasting Notes for our Tap Beer
Monteiths’ Black $5.30 glass $7.50 pint
By today’s standards, Monteith’s Black Beer is distinctive, with a higher alcohol content than ‘mainstream’ beers and a crisp dark maltiness. This complex malty characteristic shines through from the use of five different premium malts. With biscuit, nutty, caramel, chocolate and coffee malt characteristics, it’s a special taste in beers that is truly akin to the rich black beers historically produced on the West Coast of New Zealand.
Monteith’s brewers have developed traditional yeasty fermentation characters through which they meld berry-fruit notes with the aroma of this complex blend of malts.
Monteiths’ Golden $5.30 glass $7.50 pint
Monteith’s Golden Lager is considered a ‘malty lager’ in the heritage of beers traditionally brewed in parts of Germany. The tradition of Munich Oktoberfest and ‘export’ lagers balances a smooth mellow hop character with a rounded malty nutty richness and refreshing fruity aroma. By today’s standards, Monteith’s Golden Lager is a rich golden colour, slightly darker than more modern ‘mainstream’ lagers. It has a smooth malty characteristic tending to nuttiness, from the use of Munich-style amber malts.
Monteith’s brewers have developed a crisp natural freshness from the lager yeast during maturation.
Monteiths’ Original $5.30 glass $7.50 pint
Brewed to the same Monteith family recipe since 1868, Monteith’s Original Ale is considered a pale ale in the heritage of beers brewed last century. By today’s standards, Monteith’s Original Ale is fairly dark and this illustrates how much beers have changed over time. Monteith’s Original Ale has a solid malty characteristic tending to the dark crystal malt range, with notes of caramel or burnt sugar. However, its key focus is extra bitterness, as the tradition of pale ales tends to be beers with significant hop characteristics. Monteith’s brewers have been able to develop traditional yeasty fermentation characters and some fruity/berry-fruit notes to the aroma. The blend of these characteristics creates a balance that reflects the historic style of ‘pale ales’ ~ good body, complex ale fruitiness and a significant hoppy aftertaste. Monteith’s beers are not pasteurised, which better preserves their natural, traditional flavours.
Monteiths’ Pilsner $5.30 glass $7.50 pint
Monteith’s Pilsner Beer is a Bohemian-style lager in the heritage of extremely hopped blonde beers brewed in parts of Eastern Europe. It has a complex hop aroma and a rich hop bitterness characteristic of this tradition in brewing.
Monteith’s Pilsner Beer has a malty quality that includes smooth caramel characteristics from the use of Vienna-style crystal malts. The key flavour is its enormous hop character, crafted around this complex malt flavour. Using a very special antique hop variety known as a ‘noble hop’, Monteith’s brewers have been able to carefully balance wonderful hop aromas with smooth clean bitterness. This complex noble hop aroma deliver a natural freshness, enhanced by the brewery’s tradition of not pasteurising. Monteith’s Pilsner Beer is a premium beer that challenges the perception of lagers being merely light and mild. This tradition of highly hopped beers descends from the earliest days on the West Coast when hops were grown locally from Hokitika to Reefton and up to Motueka.
Monteiths’ Radler $5.30 glass $7.50 pint
Monteith's Radler® is a refreshing fruity lager beer. The style originates from Bavaria and was first created in the early 1920's by the owner of a Austrian Gasthaus, Franz Xaver Kugler. In search of an invigorating brew, he developed an easy drinking lager bier with a citrus twist – flavoured with lemon and lime. The perfect treat for the many cyclists ("radler" in German) and mountain hikers who visited his alpine guesthouse. Radler® faithfully recreates the experience; it's a lager beer, brewed to full strength at 5% alcohol by volume as you are used to from Monteith's. The beer is brewed with a small amount of natural lemon juice, giving it it's refreshing zesty citrus finish. Monteith's Radler® has a level of residual sweetness to complement the added lemon juice. This combination provides balance and a degree of complexity to the flavour mix. Radler® is only lightly hopped to ensure the bitterness character does not dominate the flavour.
Monteith's presents NZ Lager Bottles.
We are pleased to announce that we are now stocking the latest edition to the Monteith's family of fine craft beers, New Zealand Lager. It won gold at the International Lager Awards and is a fantastic drop by anyone's standards. We've taste tested it well and truely now so have every confidence! Buy it buy the bootle now.
Monteiths 
