Freedom through beer

Greig McGill has always been passionate about beer and way back in 2011 he started brewing as a contractor in Matangi, just east of Hamilton. 

Fast forward seven years or so and having quit his day job, Greig and business partner Phil Murray have their very own brewery in Hamilton. 

Brewaucracy is the label, passion is the drive. 

“I was in IT, Phil was too and still is. I’d been doing that for 20-something years and just thought, ‘no, I can’t do this anymore – it’s time to give brewing a full go’. I don’t want to die with regrets,” Greig said. 

“I took some time off and figured out who wanted to get on board and got a bit of money behind us through family and friends. We wanted to kick it off and do it properly. So we did.” 

That was about two years ago. It took until February last year to find the building on Mahana Road in Te Rapa, where Greig now spends most of his waking hours. 

“That was a real challenge. We really wanted to be in Hamilton and when we finally found it, it was a sigh of relief.” 

They brewed their first batch on Valentine’s Day this year. 

“So, my labour of love was born. Our first batch was a giveaway to all the tradies who’ve helped us out.” 

Greig said he and Phil were both libertarians and that’s where their unique name, Brewaucracy, came in. 

“We are very much about minimal government. We came up with this joke… a word play… around all of the things you have to deal with, the forms you have to full in, the regulatory stuff you have to do, just to go about your daily life and so we thought we’d take a casual swipe at it – we don’t stick too closely to the theme, that’s just our inspiration. 

“We have this idea of freedom through beer,” he smiled. 

The pair did well when they first opened, but Greig said sales have been a bit slower than they’d like recently. 

“But we’ve just had a sales person start a few weeks ago and we are just now getting to a point where she’s starting to move some beer. 

“Sales through the tap room have been slow, given that we are off-license only, but actually quite encouraging – more than we would have thought– so that’s been really positive. 

“When the on-license kicks in here, we hope that the on-license sales will keep the lights on, and the keg sales will be the gravy.” 

Greig has found love with the American tap room model and wants Brewaucracy to be just that. 

“[American tap rooms] are like bars because they have to be, not because they want to be. They are in a brewery and they are a way for the brewery to sell the freshest beer possible. 

“They’re not there to be a restaurant, they’re not there to do food. Unfortunately, in New Zealand the liquor licensing laws says we have to do food. We would rather not. If you want to eat, you bring in anything you like, we’re not going to stop you.” 

Greig said Brewaucracy’s food will meet the requirements of the law, but he invites people to bring along their own dinner, whether it be takeaways or a home cooked meal. 

“People can bring their dinner and, as long as they’re buying our fresh beer, they’re welcome. 

“We have a lot of people around here – residents and business people – who keep asking when they can have a beer here, because they think it’s a cool place to do that.” 

He said they’d applied for the on-license and it was currently with the council. 

In the meantime, it’s all about brewing. 

“We are looking for our identity again because, as a contract brewer, we had no pressure. We were only brewing a small amount at a time so we could make whatever we wanted. 

“Now we’re living with the reality that if we make it, there’s 1200 litres of it at least and we need to sell all of that. So, we are looking at some more mainstream styles. You’ve got to have an IPA, you’ve got to have a pale ale of some description – that’s in the fermenter at the moment.” 

But, he said, they were trying to keep an edge about them. 

“I was very influenced by some of the English styles, more the styles that aren’t brewed that much anymore. So, we’ve got our ESB (extra special bitter) – The Devil in the Boardroom – which has been really heartening to see it selling well, it’s kind of justification. 

“And we have Bean Counter – a porter with coffee and chocolate flavours, which people tend to like, especially in winter.” 

But if you ask him his favourite, he absolutely refuses to answer, likening it to asking the question, who’s your favourite child? 

“But if I had to choose, it’s measured by what I feel like taking home at the end of the day. They’re all good on different days.” 

Greig said he’d had a love for beer for as long as he could remember and the brewing was something that came late. 

He was a founding member of a national organisation dedicated to promoting beer, SOBA (Society of Beer Advocates), who distribute the magazine The Pursuit of Hoppiness. 

“I was the last of the SOBA founders to start a brewery. I never actually wanted to, I was quite happy pottering around and doing my own thing.” 

Then a friend tasted his pumpkin ale and invited him to his garage-based brewery, Liberty, in New Plymouth, to brew it. They did and his business partner Phil said they should do it as a job. Greig was a bit reluctant at first as he didn’t want the pressure. 

“But I really enjoy it. I love the process, I even love the cleaning – it’s quite relaxing. It’s fun, but the business side is all Phil.” 

Brewaucracy isn’t worried about trying to compete with the likes of bigger craft beer companies like Good George. In fact, they even work with the Waikato favourite. 

“We have a collaboration beer with Good George brewing in tank one at the moment, that’s coming out for the Good Beer Week in Auckland.” 

Greig said their range of beers might be a bit weird for a while. 

“It’ll be a while before we have a static range – we’re putting them on trial and seeing what sells. The things that sell we will probably keep, the things that don’t we will probably lose.

“I would suggest that if anyone has a favourite beer, make sure they buy lots of it or it might go away,” he laughed.

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