This was always the dream for Jason Bathgate and Monica Mead. Living in paradise, brewing their own beers. Tasman was where Jason and Monica lived when they first moved to New Zealand in 2009 before brewing jobs took them to Renaissance in Blenheim, 8 Wired in Warkworth, then McLeod’s in Waipu.
But Tasman is the place they knew they wanted to return to. So when the opportunity to take over Townshend’s lease and brew kit at 483 Main Road, Riwaka they leapt at the chance.
I’d been in the neighbourhood for a few days visiting family and had popped in several times to try some of the new beers. If you know Jason’s past beers you’ll have high expectations, and I’d wager they’ll be exceeded. The beers are all excellent, perfectly balanced. Monica, who looks after the marketing and excellent branding, tells me about a tourist who came in for a tasting and asked why one beer was called Bathgate Pale Ale. He could not contain his excitement upon finding out it was named after the brewer, “Jason Bathgate from McLeod’s?!” Without that kind of reputation, Monica says they wouldn’t have been bold enough to start a brewery in the current tough market conditions.
It’s Sunday morning when I join Jason to take a few photos of his brew day. He is brewing the second batch of Itsy Bitsy, their 2.5% lager. When the first batch was released, “whoosh”, it was gone — so it’s overdue for another brew. The first batch had a problem with sulphur after ferment, “it’s that big really farty smell,” Jason explains, adding in detail why it happened, how with extra time the yeast “always cleans itself up”, and what he’s doing to avoid the same problem this time. The care he takes to these sorts of details is apparent as mashing-in progresses.
All of their beer names are related to things important to Jason and Monica. They had two sheep they rescued from near death in Marlborough who accompanied them around the country. They are memorialised in the beers Willa Pils and Polka Kölsch which are on tap in the taproom.
Another beer, Polka’s Dot (named after the dark spot on Polka’s side) is a dark Kölsch, a style invented by Jason “but absolutely makes sense when you taste it”. The yeast strain he used for his standard Kölsch has a bit of a cherry note to it, almost sweet, so he added a couple of grains that he thought would complement that, “and it still drinks really dry like a Kölsch. I’m hoping to do a black and tan with those for Octoberfest. It’ll be a bit obscure. I dunno if anybody really does that, but that’s my kind of fun!”
Towards the end of his time at McLeod’s the production schedule was getting a bit repetitive for Jason, “like Groundhog Day”. So while this isn’t their dream setup, it is their dream to run their own business. Jason was initially worried about being too busy with just him brewing, but they’ve settled into a good rhythm. Once the tanks are full there’s not a lot to do. Next winter he’s looking forward to having some time to play around — some mixed ferments, bottle conditioning, maybe get a couple of barrels.
The previous night Monica reminded him, “You gotta have fun. Don’t fucking lose that.”
The smile on Jason’s face says it all.
