BREWED IN THE BAY

Closed borders, supply disruptions, lockdowns; you name it, COVID has thrown it at us - but you just can’t keep a good thing down, and Whakatāne’s Mata Brewery is a very good thing!

The Mata story begins in 2005, in Kawerau, when owner Tammy Viitakangas - freshly inspired by travels in Europe - decided that what the New Zealand beer scene needed was to take a bit of a walk on the wild side. Lagers were fine, but the diversity of beers she’s seen in Belgium had got her thinking. “For me the inspiration was really going overseas - and probably a bit of madness!” Tammy says. “In a place like Belgium there is just so many different styles and really varied flavours, and when I got back home to New Zealand I had a look at the industry and in those days the craft beer side of things was really in its infancy. Most people were just trying to get consistent IPAs and the like, and I thought there was room for something a bit uniquely Kiwi. At that time the more well-known beers all had foreign, European names so from the get-go we wanted to have a local identity: Mata means ‘face’ or ‘edge’ as in mountains, and our logo resembles mountain ranges, so it better reflects where we’re from.” Mata’s beers, originally home-brewed in the kitchen in time-honoured Kiwi fashion, also set out to be a statement of the brand’s unique identity: two of their first offerings were a honey-infused Manuka Golden Ale and the award-winning Taniwha, a hāngi-inspired Kiwi spin on a traditional German smoked beer. Both went down a treat with the public - and marked something of a milestone in a craft beer industry that generally preferred to emulate Europe.

Soon the little company was growing, and some second-hand brewing equipment purchased out of a Wellington shed meant production could be ramped up. “It actually turned out to be what remained of Wellington’s first microbrewery,” Tammy says, “and we had no idea if it would work when it was plugged in! These days equipment like that would be snapped up, but in those days no one really wanted used brewing gear and it had been sitting unused for quite some time. It was a bit of a risk!”

But taking risks is pretty much par for the course in the brew business - and it paid off. Soon Mata was producing an award-winning line of brews

that were on the leading edge of the great Kiwi craft beer boom. And they really did have a very uniquely Kiwi take on it; their Kawerau base was cobbled together out of three separate shopfronts – a dairy, a menswear shop and a butchery – with customer access through a decidedly understated back door!

But if their brewery was understated, their beer was larger than life. Kiwi flavours abounded and the beer styles became ever-more diverse. Tammy even drew inspiration from her father’s Finnish roots by brewing a Sahti, an ancient Finnish style traditionally made with juniper twigs, but in Mata’s take on it, mānuka tips were substituted to blend with spicy rye malts and juniper berries.

By 2017, Mata had outgrown its old premises, needing more space to expand but also hankering after a way to connect to its customer base. “Our whole journey has been made possible by the support we’ve had from customers,” Tammy says, “and while online sales are vital, we really wanted to have a tasting room where we could connect with people.”

After an extensive search Mata relocated to its new home in Whakatāne, complete with brewery and tasting room serving some of the world’s best pizza. “The new premises have made a huge difference to our business,” says Tammy. “Being able to interact with customers means we can get to know them and see how people enjoy our creations. We wouldn’t be here without our locals, and we wanted to create a space where everyone could feel comfortable. Come along in your gumboots or turn up in a suit, all are welcome, and we have local musicians and events.”

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“Over time it has become more and more challenging for craft beers to get supermarket shelf space and compete with the big players on price - having this outlet and direct connection to our customers is probably the best thing we ever did as a brewery.”

With all the day-to-day tribulations of brewing - as well as the global pandemic thrown into the mix! - the Mata journey has certainly had its ups and downs. “Nearly every day we wonder why we do it!” Tammy says. “But it’s a really dynamic industry now. Styles are changing, consumers are a lot more adventurous - the Kiwi palette has massively matured - and it’s an exciting time for Kiwi brewing.” Come along in your gumboots or turn up in a suit, all are welcome

So, for the avid home brewers and beer dreamers throughout the land, what is Tammy’s advice for making it a reality. “If you are creating a new beer you have to know how you want it to taste and smell, you’ve got to have that in your head, and then you have to figure out how to achieve that. And achieve it consistently. But most of all you’ve got to love it. It’s as simple as that!”