The iconic Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka has stopped offering public tours after more than 25 years.
The DB-owned brewery is based in the Tararua District just north of Paihiatua and is famous for being the home of the popular Tui draught beer.
Visitors to the site have previously been able to purchase a guided tour of the brewery daily at 11.30am.
But DB Breweries’ marketing director Fraser Shrimpton confirmed the brewery will no longer offer the tours, with the last one having taken place on Friday, August 9.
“We are replacing the tours with a new beer tasting experience,” said Shrimpton.
“We expect these to start within the next few weeks and are excited to be able to offer visitors and locals a new way to experience our historic Mangatainoka Tui brewery.”
Shrimpton said visitors would be able to sample a range of different beer styles when the tastings were up and running.
He said people could still visit the Mangatainoka site in the interim to eat at its cafe, buy beer and wander around the grounds.
About 25,000 people have visited Tui’s Mangatainoka brewery annually.
The Tui brand is well-known for its controversial advertising campaigns, including its now-retired ‘Yeah Right’ billboards and a television advertisement which suggested the brewery was staffed entirely by female workers.
The site’s large production brewery was decommissioned in 2016 and replaced with a smaller plant.
The majority of Tui beer is now brewed at DB’s Auckland and Timaru breweries.
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