History of Renaissance

Renaissance brewing was established in 2005 when experienced brewers Andy Deuchars and Brian Thiel purchased the lease on the historic Grove Mill  in Blenheim.

Andy and Brian, both natives of Southern California, had one goal in mind - to produce stunning beers in a region more renouned for the excellence of its wines. Spurred on by the winemakers mantra that it takes a lot of beer to make a great wine, as well as the amount of disguished palates within the region, they set about their task with aplomb.

Following some early teething problems (such as the delayed dispatch of their bottling machine when the Italian suppliers decided to take 6 weeks off to celebrate Italy winning the world cup in 2006) they were soon shipping beer the length and breadth of New Zealand to eager customers.

It wasn't only the general public who were enjoying their beers though, in September 2007 the beers scooped two trophies at the prestigious BrewNZ Beer Awards in Wellington. This success and their growing cult status with beer aficionados around New Zealand encouraged them to expand their range of beers from 3 to 5.

Continued rising demand for Renaissance beers led to the appointment of Soren Eriksen as Assistant Brewer in mid 2008. Soren and Andy immediately set to work on creating some limited release seasonal ales which took the Renaissance portfolio upto the current number available of 8.

The recession and credit crunch didn't seem to stem the rate with which Renaissance's beers were flowing (it was rumoured that fat cat bankers had swapped their Krug and Bolly for the slightly cheaper, but no less opulent, Renaissance brews) and in 2009 Renaissance exported their first beers to Australia.

The Renaissance is just beginning and we're very excited about it.