Good George CEO Darrel Hadley with the new range of cans designed by kiwi artist Shane Hansen.
Hamilton's Good George Brewery had seen a meteoric rise since it opened three years ago and, with a number of new products, new premises and plans to export internationally, it is set to grow even bigger.
The company began at the Saint George Church on Somerset St, from which it gets its name, and quickly expanded into the building next door.
Good George chief executive Darrel Hadley said the brewery has already outgrown this location and has bought the Duncan's Canvas building to the rear of the premises as well, which it will move into in five weeks.
The extension will include four more 50,000l fermentation tanks, which will arrive at the end of July, with another five to follow quickly after.
The additions will more than double the company's number of tanks, bringing its total to 15.
The brewery began with three fermentation tanks and a single brewer; there will be seven brewers by the end of the year.
Mr Hadley said they had the option of contracting out the brewery in other locations but wanted as much of the brewing to happen on premises as possible.
"The location is really important to us. We began in the church. We also want to focus on our brewery tours as much as possible," he said.
The brewery will also be releasing a new squealer bottle, modelled on the company's iconic Volkswagen Kombi van.
Mr Hadley said the new bottle had been difficult to produce, owing to the cap they wanted to use, which would usually be found on wine bottles. He said the new bottle was tailored towards preparing for exporting internationally.
"The bottle's more refined in shape. We want to be exporting by the middle of next year at the latest and, for that, we need our packaging to be spot on.
"Australia and the UK are targets," he said.
Hadley said he was still determined to establish a venue in Hamilton East despite being blocked from purchasing The Cook bar when an overruling contract with Lion toppled the purchase at the start of the year.
He said Good George were still pursuing The Cook, but was also exploring other opportunities.
Brewery director Jason Macklow said they were working on a site in Hamilton East and had aspiration to be up and running in the next 12 months.
Bringing some competition to bigger breweries was one of the driving forces that led to Good George being established.
"Historically we have come from owning and operating bars and we got fed up with dealing with the big brewers and being told what to pour.
"That's what attracted us to brewing.
"I've been in the hospitality industry for 20 years; five years ago I didn't now how beer was made," Mr Hadley said.
As if there was not enough going on, the company also recently bought a canning processor and completed two canning runs of 15,000 cans.
The first run was of cans feature artwork from Kiwi designer Shane Hansen, who is currently designing the outfits to be worn by the New Zealand team at the next Olympics.
Good George was this year's official beer of Fieldays and Mr Hadley said the beers went down a treat.
"That's the coal face of beer drinkers, the rural communities from New Zealand and overseas.
"We were stoked to see how it was received."
Hadley said people no longer go out for the sake of it but, instead, need an occasion, and craft beer plays into that.
"We get to be the special occasion, you can build a little occasion around it. Craft beer is batch brewed, it's new to the industry so there's always new things to try. People love to talk about it - it's become social ammunition. And it's not just men, it's women as well. Twenty years ago it was coffee - now it's beer's time."
The brewery has two new beers on the go: The first is an American pale ale, which was released on July 4 for Independence Day celebrations, and a new salted caramel salt porter created in collaboration with Donovans Chocolates.
The company began producing four beers on tap at their first site three years ago and now produces more than 28 varieties and ships to 340 bars, restaurants and liquor outlets throughout New Zealand.
BEER BY NUMBERS:
2013: 200,000 litres
2014: 420,000 litres
2015: 750,000 litres