Two Thumb Brewing is a craft brand on the rise, with their new state-of-the-art Christchurch brewery and bar now open!

Christchurch brewery Two Thumb recently opened its doors on their new brewery and bar on Colombo Street and have gone from one of the smallest craft beer producers in the city, to one of the biggest. And they’ve done it almost overnight.

In taking over the lease of the building, Two Thumb have also completed the purchase of the state-of-the-art brewery equipment installed at the premises from brewing giant Lion Nathan.

The deal is something of a reversal on the usual story of big brewery swallows small, with Lion having purchased other craft brands over recent years.

The brewery is largely solar powered and features cutting edge eco-friendly technology. It takes annual production capacity from 50,000 litres to 1.2 million litres.

It is the second brew bar in the city for Two Thumb who still operate their original venue (which still features the tiny brewery) on Manchester Street.

The story of Two Thumb goes back to 2013 but current owners Dave Dixon and Mark Limber purchased the brand in 2017 after a night on the town, “we were drinking Two Thumb beer in a bar and casually commented that if this brewery ever came up for sale, we should buy it.  The very next week it did exactly that… so we did,” laughs Dave Dixon.  A third owner Andy Annable recently joined the team to take on the new adventure.

Along with the increase in brewing capacity, the Two Thumb venue has quickly become popular with locals and is in demand for private functions, corporate functions and will be the proud host of this year’s Brewers Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards.

Two Thumb beers are batch brewed by hand and show off the wonderful flavours and aromas of the locally sourced malts and hops.

Co-owner and Director Mark Limber says “we’ve always cut our own path and we’ve always been bold enough to not follow the crowd and do what’s right for us. We believe the most important ingredient in our recipe is time as well as the best ingredients from New Zealand.”

There could only have been one choice for the inaugural brew in their new facility: Yorkshire Bitter, Two Thumb’s English classic.

Being Yorkshiremen, the Two Thumb owners have kept this one true to their northern English roots and the beer has become famous in Christchurch for its authentic taste of their home.

To celebrate the move to the new premises the beer is now shipping to stores throughout New Zealand in cans for the first time. Previously, it has only been available as a traditional non-carbonated hand-pulled beer.

What you can expect is malty goodness, with earthy, spicy and slightly floral notes coming from the Fuggles and Golding hops.

This real ale is now landing in supermarkets across the country or available online directly from Two Thumb at www.twothumb.com

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