Blue Fridge Brewery

Our sustainable nanobrewery launched in 2015, in a shed nestled in Coromandel bush, as the passion project of head brewer Adam Coleman-Smith.

In the 80s, a blue fridge on State Highway 25 served as a letterbox for the residents of the Awamarire Farm, earning the valley the nickname Blue Fridge Valley. The residents were strongly opposed to mining in the Coromandel, and the fridge was relentlessly attacked by pro-mining groups; it was pushed over, shot at and finally blown up. As a nod to the valley in which we began, Blue Fridge aims to embody the morals of those who came before to ensure a better future for our environment.

Our aim is to make delicious beer from local ingredients, sourced from within New Zealand. We’re not trying to be the most different and outrageous brewery; we seek instead to brew flavoursome beer made with the future of NZ and New Zealanders in mind.

To this end, spent grains from the brewing process are fed to either the animals on our lifestyle farm, or if there is excess to other farmers, and we use cleaning products that are less harmful to the environment than some of the harsh chemicals common in breweries. Water is sourced sustainably via rainwater collection and natural spring, and any waste water is up cycled. We plan to continue these efforts and, as part of our upgrade and expansion, we are researching the possibility of using solar energy in our new brewery, to help keep our carbon footprint as low as possible.