When perusing the beer aisles to stock up for your weekend beer purchase this weekend, you may see a familiar face whilst you’re at it. Yup — Boneface.
You’d be forgiven for doing a double take. It’s been a while since it’s been on shelves, and its dark, future dystopian comic book graphics have been replaced with a clean, southern Cali aesthetic on a bone-hued canvas. So, what’s brought about the changes and the comeback?
The brewery, situated at Upper Hutt’s hospo and entertainment hot spot, Brewtown, was purchased by Mike and Anna Neilson from previous owner, Matt Dainty. The sale went ahead despite Boneface going into liquidation during the process.
If you’re au fait with the NZ beer scene, the names Mike and Anna Neilson will ring bells as the founders and previous owners of Panhead Custom Ales, the Upper Hutt, bogan-chic brewery, that exploded onto the craft beer scene in 2013.
Its astronomic ascent saw it immediately become one of the biggest names in New Zealand craft beer and put Upper Hutt on the map as a craft destination (Brewtown was essentially built around it). Minds were blown when Panhead sold a mere three years later to Lion in a multi-million-dollar deal. It was the most successful of Kiwi small business success stories.
When word spread that the Neilsons were the newly appointed owners of Boneface, there was a collective sigh of relief from beer lovers, who likely couldn’t take the news of another beloved local brewery shutting its doors due to the current economic slump.
It is fair to say the Neilsons are ideally experienced to usher Boneface into its second era — and today’s launch of the rebrand is a significant milestone in that.
“There was talk about changing the brewery name and creating a completely new brand,” says Mike.
“But in the end, of all the changes to be made, the beer was not one of them. They’re bloody good beers, and the brewery is known for that. That’s why we wanted to keep the name Boneface.”
Whilst the brand and great beer are still the same, the new Boneface aesthetic ushers in new names to go with the new look. Snaggletooth IPA remains, but The Unit Hazy NZ IPA is now Clawhammer (a style of playing the banjo); Hoptron American Pale Ale is now Spinal Hop; and The Wizard Hazy Pale Ale is now Hip Shake (all available in six packs of 330ml cans).
And to celebrate the rebrand and return to the shelves, Boneface launches its first new release since changing hands: Slipped Disc Cold IPA, available in 440ml cans from today.
“We told Matt [Dainty, founder & former owner] we were changing the branding — he was one of the very first to see it,” says Mike.
“I’ve always said to him, we bought the business, but this is your baby. And we want to continue the amazing parts of Boneface that Matt established.
“Throughout this, Matt has always been there supporting us, and he wants to. That’s why we wanted to keep the name. He did a great job — Boneface has a great reputation out there, and we want to continue that.”
It’d be easy for most people, post-hefty nest egg-sized sale of a major brewery such as Panhead, to put their feet up and never bother with the minutiae of employment again. But not for the Neilsons.
So why start over with another brewery?
“Boredom?” says Anna with a laugh, and Mike immediately agrees.
“We finished up at Panhead [in November 2023], and at that time, I was quite complacent and happy with that. But come April, I was a little bored. When you can’t do what you do, life gets a little bit boring,” he says.
Anna adds, “Yeah, I missed it. I missed it, hard out. I think because Panhead was still so new when we were approached to sell, my head was still in it. It was still a baby, and I felt we still had plenty in us to do more. But we knew at that time, selling was the right thing to do for a family business.”
Serendipitously, Mike and Anna’s boredom coincided with the announcement that Boneface was for sale.
“It came available at the right time for us; it was in an area we knew well — I liked the brand, I loved the beers,” says Mike.
All the plans they had for Panhead (a bigger front of house, a showcase for the beer within a complementary, high-end casual food offering), which would have gone ahead in the alternate universe where it didn’t sell, are now being put to use at Boneface.
Mike concedes it’s a tough time to get back into brewing and hospitality, but he is unfazed, quietly optimistic.
“We knew the obstacles ahead of us, which makes it quite a fun challenge. With Panhead, it felt like it was easy in a way, because it was as successful as it was. We developed that business at a very different time.
“But Boneface is a fully-formed business in the current industry. And now we’re the ones running all the operations of the business — we previously had Josh [Drake, Panhead operations manager] doing that at Panhead. So, it’s a different challenge, but also a positive and rewarding one,” he says.
