Speight's is a beer brand and a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

located in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, New Zealand. The brand is owned by the Japanese-controlled holding company

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

, itself a subsidiary of Kirin. Speight's is best known for its Gold Medal Ale, one of the best-selling beers in New Zealand. The brewery also includes a chain of "Speight's Ale House" gastropubs across the country.

History

The brewery was established on Rattray Street, Central Dunedin in 1876 by James Speight, Charles Greenslade and William Dawson after they had left their positions at ''Wellpark Brewery'' (known today as the Tennent Caledonian). In 1880, Speight's won a gold medal at the

Melbourne International Exhibition The Melbourne International Exhibition is the eighth World's fair officially recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the first official World's Fair in the Southern Hemisphere. Preparations After being granted self-gov ...

, giving rise to the ''Speight's Gold Medal Ale'' brand. By 1887 it had become the largest brewery in New Zealand, and had expanded to a sufficient size that it exported beer to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

. In 1923, Speight's merged with nine other breweries to form New Zealand Breweries—in the same year, founder William Dawson died. In 1960, New Zealand Breweries rebranded to ''Lucky Beer'' in an attempt to simplify the range, however this change lasted only two months before the Speight's brand name was re-established in October of that year. In 1977, New Zealand Breweries was purchased by

. In 2001, production expanded to the Lion brewery in Newmarket,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Brands

Speight's Gold Medal Ale is the brewery's best known beer. Though marketed as an ale, as it was in the past, it is actually a New Zealand Draught-style lager, brewed using

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

yeast and lagering techniques. In addition to its main Gold Medal Ale brand, Speight's also produces beers under the ''Speight's Summit'' and the ''Speight's Craft'' ranges of beer, the latter including the ''Speight's Old Dark'', ''Speight's Distinction Ale'', and ''Speight's Triple Hop Pilsner'', all of which are lagers of varying colour. Speight's range of beer is not gluten-free. Speight's also produces an apple

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

The Speight's Building

The Speight's brewery building is a prominent landmark in Central Dunedin, located just to the west of The Exchange at the corner of Rattray and Maclaggan Streets and extending up the hill into City Rise. The earliest parts of the building date back to its first inception in 1876, with several major extensions and renovations in the years since, most notably extensions in 1938 designed by Harry Mandeno. The most recent renovation was to provide earthquake strengthening in 2012–14. Regular guided tours of the building are run by the company for members of the public.

Marketing

Speight's label features three eight-pointed stars. These stars come from both the original provincial arms of

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, and the fact that Speight's was awarded gold medals at brewery awards in three different countries in 1877. More recently, Speight's Southern man advertising campaign has been popular and long running. Speight's main marketing slogan, "Pride of the South", has been used in association with these advertisements for a number of years. One popular advertisement featured the Cardrona Hotel pub. Speight's later built a loose replica of this building in Mt Eden,

, as part of its national marketing scheme. At the site of their Dunedin plant the company has installed a tap that pumps water up from a spring deep below the brewery, thus providing fresh, pure water free of charge. This tap was at the centre of an April Fool's joke in 1998 when the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (''ODT'') is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and ...

'' reported that, just for that day, Speight's beer would flow, free of charge, from that tap.

Sponsorship

Speight's has a long-standing relationship with

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

in the

and Southland regions. In 1977, the brewery began sponsoring the Dunedin club championship. The brewery currently has sponsorship arrangements with the Otago Highlanders,

Otago Rugby Football Union The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in ...

, and Southland Rugby Football Union.

References

External links

Speight's official Site

Lion
official page {{coord, -45.876374, 170.499959, display=title Kirin brands Breweries of New Zealand Beer brands Companies based in Dunedin 1876 establishments in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Dunedin Harry Mandeno buildings Central Dunedin