Garage Project

Garage Project is an independent New Zealand brewery based in Aro Valley, Wellington.^[1] The brewery was founded in 2011 by brothers Ian and Pete Gillespie and Jos Ruffell, who turned a dilapidated car garage to brewing 50 litres at a time and more recently to producing 24 new beers in 24 weeks. The 24/24 project produced many beers that are still in production- Aro Noir, Pernicious Weed, Venusian Pale Ale, Cockswain's Courage, Hāpi Daze, Biére de Garage, Red Rocks, Golden Brown, Day of Dead, Hellbender, Summer Sommer, and Rum & Raisin. ^[2]

Pete Gillespie and Jos Ruffell

Garage Project

Company type	Private
Industry	Brewery
Founded	2011; 14 years ago (2011) in Wellington, New Zealand
Founders	Ian Gillespie, Pete Gillespie, Jos Ruffell
Website	garageproject.co.nz

The brewery has created over 300 different beers.^[3]

The brewery has grown considerably since 2011, winning the Deloitte Fast 50 in 2015 with over 660% annual growth,^[4] and distribution in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Sweden and California.

Garage Project established a Cellar Door and Taproom in their Aro Valley, Wellington site,^[5] a mixed fermentation and barrel location in central Wellington dubbed the "Wild Workshop",^[6] and most recently a Cellar Door in Kingsland, Auckland.^[7] In 2017 Garage Project announced a partnership with brew house bStudio in the Hawkes Bay.^[8]

Garage Project has won numerous awards- In the 2018 GABS Hottest 100 Kiwi Craft Beers poll, Garage Project claimed 19 spots, including #2 for Death from Above, #3 for Pernicious Weed, and #5 for Party & Bullshit.^[9] They were named NZ Brewery of the Year in 2017 by the New Zealand Brewers Guild Awards, edging out 111 other breweries and claiming 26 medals.^[10]

In 2017 Garage Project announced they would also begin production of natural wines called GP Crushed, made at their central Wellington location. The initial launch features four wines: a Riesling bottled mid-fermentation and spiked with Lactobacillus, a 100% Brettanomyces fermented New Zealand Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir that has undergone carbonic maceration before being spiked with Brett, and a Sauvignon/Semillon blend that has been bottled pét-nat. More wild wines are due to be released in 2018.^[11]

Garage Project's Hāpi Daze pale ale is served aboard Singapore Airlines flights to and from New Zealand.^[12]