McCashin's Brewery

Lore & Background

The property on Main Road Stoke in the Nelson suburb of Stoke began as the Rochdale Cider factory in the late 1930s. The current building was erected in the 1950s. By the 1970s, Rochdale was the only large commercial cider producer in New Zealand. In 1980, Terry McCashin and his wife Beverley purchased the business, continuing Rochdale Cider while also beginning to brew craft beer for the first time in New Zealand, with the help of brewer Jim Pollitt. Mac's beer was launched on 26 September 1981, with then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon in attendance. The small brewery had to compete with the two giants in the market, Lion Nathan and Dominion Breweries.

In 1999, Lion bought the Mac's brand and began leasing the premises in 2000. As the brand grew, Lion produced Mac's beers in Wellington, Christchurch, and after the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, in Auckland. Lion also established a number of Mac's Brewbars around New Zealand. In 2009, Terry's son Dean McCashin and his wife Emma moved to Nelson, relaunching the brewery under its original name, McCashin's Brewery, producing beer under the newly-created Stoke brand and resuming production of Rochdale-branded cider. In December 2022, Scott McCashin acquired the brewery from his siblings and serves as managing director.

Reader's Guide

McCashin's Brewery holds a significant place in New Zealand's brewing history as one of the earliest craft breweries in the country. Founded by Terry McCashin, a former All Black, the brewery introduced craft beer to a market dominated by two large corporations, Lion Nathan and Dominion Breweries. The launch of Mac's beer in 1981, attended by the Prime Minister, marked a milestone in the nation's beer culture. After the Mac's brand was sold to Lion in 1999, the McCashin family revived the brewery under its original name in 2009, focusing on the Stoke beer brand and returning to cider production with Rochdale. The brewery continues to produce a range of beer styles using traditional methods, organic hops, and specially cultured yeast, including IPA, dark ale, and pilsner. It also offers a non-alcoholic range and bottled water sourced from beneath the brewery. The Brewery Kitchen restaurant operates on site, providing off-site catering as well.

Did You Know?

• The brewery's property originally housed the Rochdale Cider factory from the late 1930s.
• In 2009, Dean McCashin and his wife Emma relaunched the brewery under the original name McCashin's Brewery.
• The brewery bottles still and sparkling water branded 'Palaeo' sourced from a source underneath the brewery.