MOA

The Moa Brewing Company was founded in 2003 by Josh Scott, the son of renowned Marlborough winemaker Allan Scott, with a focus on brewing handcrafted beers. The Moa brewery is situated among the vineyards in the world famous winemaking region of Marlborough, New Zealand, which isn't surprising considering Josh is also a winemaker and, according to him, "It takes a lot of beer to make a good wine."

The name "Moa" (pronounced "more") also derives from the region as early settlers to the area hunted Moa (New Zealand's extinct giant flightless bird), which were in huge abundance in the Wairau Valley. Josh even hand-delivered early trial brews to archaeologists working a Moa bone dig near the brewery. Unlike the Moa, the archaeologists survived.

The international multi-award winning range of Moa beers and ciders are proudly brewed using traditional, costly, inefficient and labour-intensive techniques with a focus on local ingredients, including internationally renowned New Zealand hops. Made the way beer used to be made before everyone started making it differently, most of our beers are rounded off through the use of winemaking techniques, such as bottle conditioning where a small amount of active yeast and priming sugar is added to the brew just before bottling (like Champagne). This is why you may find some sediment at the bottom of each bottle. This traditional technique naturally carbonates the beer, significantly enhances shelf life and longevity, creates dynamic and complex flavours that change over time (like a good wine), and gives the beer an elegant, champagne-like mouthfeel.

David Nicholls

David has been brewing for over 30 years, training in London, Berlin and Amsterdam, working within some of the world's largest breweries. After growing tired of the corporate beer world, David made his return to New Zealand. He ending up running into Josh at the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, where he was sampling some of Josh's beer and told him exactly what he thought of it. Josh challenged David to do better and the following Monday morning David showed up and did just that. He hasn't looked back.