DB Breweries is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

–based brewing company, owned by

Heineken Asia Pacific Heineken Asia Pacific, formerly Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) is a Singaporean brewery company. Founded in 1931 as a joint venture between Heineken International and Fraser and Neave, it was renamed Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) in 1989 and given i ...

. Founded in 1930 by Sir Henry Kelliher and W Joseph Coutts, the partners purchased Levers and Co. and the Waitemata Brewery Co. in Ōtāhuhu. Asia Pacific Breweries acquired DB Breweries in 2004, which in turn was bought-out by Heineken International in 2012. The company mainly produces

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

, whilst its Tui brand is one of the better-known beers in New Zealand, partly due to strong advertising.

History

The company was founded in 1930 by Sir Henry Kelliher with the purchase of Levers and Co. and the Waitemata Brewery Co. in Ōtāhuhu, owned by W.J. Coutts, who became a director. Coutts' son, Morton Coutts, took over as director in 1946, and later developed a new production process called "continuous fermentation", which enabled beer to be made continuously, without the need to stop and clean between batches. The system proved popular enough to be sold to other brewing companies. DB Bitter Beer

Breweries

DB Breweries (original name was Dominion Brewery) owns and operates several breweries in New Zealand, including Waitemata Brewery (Ōtāhuhu, Auckland), and DB Draught Brewery (

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

). Mainland Brewery was renamed to DB Draught Brewery in 2012 in honour of the brand's significance in the South Island. DB announced in 2020 that it would cease brewing at its Tui Brewery ( Mangatainoka), and Monteith's Brewery (

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori language, Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast List of regions in New Zealand, region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The populat ...

). The Tui Brewery was established in 1889 by Henry Wagstaff and Edward Russell. The main brand is ''Tui'', a 4% abv pale lager, named after a common native New Zealand bird. The New Zealand Consumers' Institute criticised Tui for claiming to be an "East India Pale Ale" because it is a pale lager that bears little resemblance to the traditionally hoppy, bitter or malty India Pale Ale styles.

''Yeah right''

Tui was promoted through a humorous advertising campaign which used

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

s, heavy

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

and the phrase ''Yeah Right''. The billboard campaign lasted from 1997 until 2016. These advertisements caused some controversy, such as a billboard in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

stating 'Camilla for Queen? Yeah Right' and one stating 'Aucklanders are people too. Yeah Right'. Others to have made the news include "Dad's new husband seems nice - Yeah right" (after New Zealand legalised same-sex marriage); "I nvr txt whl drvn - yeah right"; "When Winston says no, he means no - Yeah right"; "Captain, I know a short cut to the port – Yeah right" (after ran aground near Tauranga); "Our father in Heaven, Tamaki be your name – Yeah right"; "She clearly married Dotcom for his body – Yeah right". In 2010 a church was threatened with legal action after parodying the Tui billboard campaign with the slogan, "Atheists have nothing to worry about – Yeah Right".

Radler trademark

DB trademarked the word Radler in 2003. This was contested in court by the Society of Beer Advocates who lost the case in 2011 when the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand ruled in favour of DB breweries after a two-year court battle. The Society of Beer Advocates likened this trademark to being able to trademark the word 'Muesli' for cereal and was disappointed in this result as the word radler is commonly used in Europe. This ruling was also labelled as 'out of touch with reality' and condemned by some intellectual property experts in New Zealand.

Beer

* Amstel Light * Better Beer Company * Black Dog * DB Bitter * DB Draught * DB Export * DB Export Dry * Double Brown * Flame *

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

* Kingfisher (beer) * Monteith's * Murphy's * Sol *

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

* Tui * Tuatara

Other brands

* Orchard Thieves

Defunct brands

* DB Lager * DB Natural * Joseph Kuhtze * Kiwi Lager * Mako, a low alcoholic beer (2.5% alcohol/volume) Most of the brand products (''Export 33'', ''Export Dry'', ''Export Gold'' and '' Monteith's Single Source'') have won a Gold Quality

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

at the 2011 annual World Quality Selections, organised by Monde Selection.

References

External links

DB BreweriesTuiMy Choice Tui AdExport Gold
{{DEFAULTSORT:Db Breweries Heineken subsidiaries Heineken brands Breweries of New Zealand Food and drink companies established in 1930 New Zealand companies established in 1930