There’s a saying that if you want beer to be any good, make it in small batches. Not because smaller is better, but because you brew more often.

We started Steamer Basin only knowing we didn’t know much. But with a 50L brewkit, we figured we could learn fast, brewing 2-3 times a week. We soon learnt that we barely knew anything, ending our first year where we started, with just 2 beers.

We found our path when we visited Oregon and got into our farmers market, inspiring us to make seasonal beer using local ingredients.

We’ve since continued to experiment quietly, striving to make well-balanced beer that’s enjoyable to share. Our ideas are not always great (Kimchi Pils) and don’t always work (Yumberry Wheat), but we always end up knowing more.

We’ve now reached the point where we’re focused on getting better. We’ll still be brewing new beers — we have 2 for the upcoming Dunedin beerfest and a backlog of other ideas — but we’re parking (Little Spelt) or re-purposing (Rye Saison into Sour Rye) any beers that can be better.

Because we’ve learnt that while brewing something new is fun, making good beer takes fine tuning and feedback. That’s why we’re really grateful for your support, sampling our beer and encouraging our efforts (“not bad”).

We’re planning to expand this coming year but even making bigger batches, we’ll work hard to stay small.

Enjoy!

Paul & Karen