Ash Hutchinson, head brewer from Searchlight in Queenstown, is now a co-owner of the business — and one of his first big jobs will be showcasing Searchlight to the wider world at Beervana this year.
Ash has worked at some of the best breweries in the country: Hallertau, Liberty, Panhead, Tuatara, Urbanaut and Garage Project — nearly always on the packaging and production side.
Searchlight owner Ilan Peretz, who also owns Queenstown’s Beech Tree bar, told Ash the stake in the business was a reward for three years’ hard work.
“Ilan approached me about it and was like, ‘this is a natural progression. I can see you growing both as a brewer and understanding the business’,” Ash said.
“The beers are improving. We’ve managed to see the overall quality improve as well as sales growing so he said it was a natural step for me to have some skin in the game.
“He can see how much time and effort and heart and soul I was putting into the work.”
“But I think he also started to notice how I threw myself into living down here in Queenstown — I’ve even been teaching myself to fly fish. He could see that I was invested in the community and this wasn’t just a pit stop.”
Ash says Searchlight has grown nicely since he’s been there.
“We do pretty events and that’s been a great way to get a lot of volume pushing through the taps. And secondary to that, I’ve been making the effort to branch out a little bit with where we’re able to send our kegs. The Beer Spot in Auckland have been an amazing supporter since I moved down here.”
One of his first big jobs as co-owner is getting Searchlight to Beervana in August, where they will have their own stand for the first time featuring 11 taps, which is a lot a beer to pour for small brewery.
There’s also the possibility of a second brewpub location in Queenstown.
The current brewery features a 1200L brew kit and 400L pilot brewery which can be transplanted to a second venue.
“We made the smaller brew kit quite modular so we have the ability to pull it out and we’d only need to make sure we’ve got water, drainage, power, and then buy a second lot of glycol. But we could pretty much pull this small brew kit out and pop it in somewhere else at the right opportunity, if it arrives.”
Searchlight hasn’t canned beer for around two years but that’s also back on the agenda.
“We haven’t written off canning — we’ve got some loose plans, and there are opportunities for us to branch out a bit and get a bit of growth going and get back into that.”
On social media, Searchlight posted:
“This is more than a business decision. It’s a statement about what Searchlight stands for. We don’t aim to be bigger. The goal is to be different; a brewery shaped and owned by the people that pour themselves into it every day.
“Ash becoming co-owner is a major step in that direction. For Ash, it’s the result of years of hard work, creativity, and belief. For Searchlight, it’s the beginning of a new chapter.”