United Nations of Beer

Tui Brewery tour

by Fez Broadbent
(Beer Delegate, New Zealand)

Tui Brewery tour
New Zealand

Two years ago I embarked on a journey to the ends of the earth. Well, almost. It was to Palmerston North to visit my Aunty, but for the average Aucklander that pretty much is the most epic distance ever travelled in a car.

Near Palmerston North is a small town called Mangatanoka, whose only tourist attraction happens to be the brewery for my favourite New Zealand beer, Tui. Okay, it probably has other attractions but come on, it's not like they are going to compare to a brewery and this place is home to the legendary Tui IPA.

The brewery building site itself is by New Zealand standards historical. The old building is prominently featured in all of the beer's marketing campaigns and sometimes on the labels of its bottles. I would give you a history of the beer and why this town was chosen for the brewery, but I have already covered that in my review of the beer, so on with the Tui Brewery tour.

Because it is such a small town, you really do need to book ahead. If you are lucky you might be able to randomly stop by and join the tour, but what are the chances of you driving past at one of the two times they run it? Fortunately I booked ahead.

The tour itself wasn't overly flashy. I have been on three brewery tours in my short career of beer reviewing and this one is by far the most bare-bones, but that's what I would come to expect from this beer, it isn't really about image, it's about personality.

Our tour-guide took us around the historical sites as well as inside the brewery, showing us diagrams and giving the usual spiel about how beer is brewed.


There were a lot of interesting points, but what I remember now two years later is the fact that the brewery hires females to count and box the beer; not because men cannot be trusted, but because women have a better attention span. This was brought up when a tour patron questioned where the "hot tui girls were" that are featured in their commercials.

At the end of the Tui Brewery tour, you are brought into a special bar with more info boards and pieces of Tui marketing history. You are given boutique beers on tap to taste; these can only be purchased within the Mangatanoka region.

None of them really stood out to me, but if they were marketed as cheaply as Tui is I would definitely consider them runner-up favourites.

The bar itself features such gimmicky advertising gimmicks as the "all purpose door". A door featured in earlier Tui commercials that accommodates to all needs; magazine delivery, videotape rental and pizza delivery among others.

Even the urinals were shaped like kegs; this I imagine could potentially be dangerous to any over-inebriated tour goers and might have thus been done intentionally as is the way with Tui humour.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my Tui Brewery tour. It's one that should definitely be made by anyone born of this country or even just coming to visit. It may not have all the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" thrills and spills featured on some tours, but is delivered in a way that humbly represents this country and the beer itself very well.