about

Welcome to Martinborough Brewery – South Wairarapa’s only craft beer brewery: a perfectly carbonated thorn amongst a heck of a lot of rosé. See what we did there?

We’re proud of our beer, and we’re proud to be part of the famous Martinborough community.

We’ve been brewing our beers for a while, and our mainstayers are some of the best we’ve tried. (We may or may not be biased about that last bit.) Technically we’re a microHead Brewery – meaning we expertly craft brews on a small(ish) scale to keep things interesting, which is exactly the way we like it.

Our head Head Brewer Eugene shares a lot in common with our winemaker neighbours – he’s dedicated to the science and craft of his beverages. Every day he’s testing, recording, and making tiny adjustments to each batch in pursuit of that extra something – the magic worth journeying for. Hand crafted is an overused term but in our case the beer is entirely from Eugene’s hands, and sometimes ours when we help him out now and then.

At our taproom we hope to guide you to experience what beer can truly be. It’s a chill atmosphere, with good food, and not all our brews are bottled, so you’ll always find something new on tap. If you’re new to craft beer, we’d love to introduce you to some things. If you’re an aficionado… just wait til you see our beer glass selection. It’s lush.

If you’re looking for the perfect combination of beer and sunshine, Martinborough Head Brewery for the win. Made by locals, served by locals. We can’t wait to welcome you real soon.

Our Brewer

Eugene joined Martinborough Brewery as Head Brewer in February 2022. 

He has a degree in Biomedical Science and was working in laboratories in the early 2010s, when he began helping his brother-in-law make home brew. He quickly became obsessed, brewing into the early hours of the morning on work nights to sustain the hobby. In 2014 he left laboratory work behind and joined the craft beer industry at The Occasional Brewer in Wellington where he worked for 5 years. He then spent 3 years in Canada, where he worked as Head Brewer at Streetcar Brewing in North Vancouver BC, until late in 2021 when he returned to NZ to live in the Wairarapa.

His favourite style of beer to drink is Barrel Aged Sour or Lambic, but his go to for everyday would be a well brewed lager or pale ale, it’s gotta be refreshing!