Based in Christchurch (Ōtautahi), Three Boys Brewery is a two-time New Zealand Champion Brewery of the Year and has been pioneering the New Zealand craft beer scene since opening in 2004.
Three Boys owner, Ralph Bungard, has seen the industry change significantly over the past two decades. From a brewing perspective, ingredients and equipment are now much more readily available than they were in 2004.
“In New Zealand, the craft industry 20 years ago was a collection of used dairy equipment and old pub vats. The quality and availability of equipment now is fantastic and using that purpose-build equipment and technology has meant that producing top quality craft beer is much simpler.
“Twenty years ago, some of our hops would arrive as dried hop flowers. Imagine that! That really put restrictions on when and where we could add hops to a brew. Now we have pellets, cryo, hop oils, extracts and such out the wazoo. The same has happened with malt style and availability,” he said.
According to Bungard, with increased availability came lower prices.
“Everything now is cheap as chips. Twenty years ago, the thought of buying a canning machine or a centrifuge or a nitrogen generator was just not on the radar.”
Building a brand
Over the years, Bungard has also seen a shift in perceptions around beer. By focusing on ranging in restaurants, Three Boys helped push back on perceptions of beer being low brow, cheap, and hyper-masculine.
“I hope I’m not being too boastful to say that Three Boys was the first in New Zealand to create a brand that did not default to all the traditional elements of beer branding. We didn’t go for the tried and tested oval labels, and the classic colours of red, gold, black, and green. We didn’t have depictions of hops, malt or a buxom Fräulein on our labels.
“Instead, we had a longneck 500ml bottle and a monochromatic label with text describing the beer style or history. It was, at that time unique. It was designed to look classy; something you could feel comfortable about ordering in a restaurant and feel even more comfortable and a little bit cool having it sit at your table,” he said.
Three Boys was also able to increase its brand awareness by using a 500ml bottle, which would not fit in a standard beer glass and resulted in restaurants leaving the iconic bottle visible on the table for guests to top up their glass.
The widespread recognition of the Three Boys brand is one of the brewery’s main strengths.
“In our own little way, in Aotearoa and particularly in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), we can be confident that a beer drinker will recognise our three stick figure logo and think, ‘That’s Three Boys, the brewery’ and we hope that they will go on to think ‘I’d bloody love one of their beers right now,’” Bungard said.
While the Three Boys bottle remains an important part of the brand, Bungard said that Three Boys has transitioned to producing more draught beer over the years.
“One of the most notable changes has been in what format we see beer leaving the brewery. In the early 2000s, over 80 per cent of our production left the brewery in bottles. In 2024, over 80 per cent of our production leaves in kegs. That is simply a reflection of how we have managed to push into the draught beer market in bars and restaurants and how Three Boys has moved towards looking after local market, rather than trying to capture distribution through the supermarket duopoly.”
Secrets to success
Underpinning Three Boys’s success and longevity is a commitment to making consistent, high-quality beer.
“Making beer is one of those things that can be as simple or as complex as you like, but it is ultimately a collection of tasks that in themselves are not difficult, but simply complicated by the sheer number of steps and sensitive steps in production.
“It’s a long way from mashing in, to someone pulling the tab on a can or a beer being poured from a bar tap. Every step along the way must be treated with the respect,” Bungard said.
According to Bungard, every stage in the development, production, bottling, and sales process relies on the other stages operating effectively to make the business thrive.
“It’s the little things amongst a brewing team that starts with the person who picks up the phone to take an order to the person who pours the pint.”
Two decades of ups and down
Over the years, the brewery has netted its fair share of awards, including being named the Brewers Guild of New Zealand Champion Brewery of the Year in both 2022 and 2024. The brewery has been involved in the Brewers Guild since its early days.
“I’m particularly proud of our involvement in the formation of the Brewers Guild of New Zealand and those early years of establishing our industry as a collective and supportive force,” Bungard said.
While there have been many highlights, Bungard said that the brewery has been equally influenced by the difficult times.
“Some of the things that are entrenched in the history of Three Boys are not the most fun to recall. The 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes is the obvious one. That was a terribly hard time for everyone in the eastern suburbs of Ōtautahi. I can tell you that tall tanks of liquid don’t cope well with being shaken around like a baby’s rattle.
“Having to deal with our business and home being in the centre of that chaos is triggering, even now. I can’t think now how we got through that, but we did, and it made us all appreciate how important community and locals are to life and business. I still feel very teary-eyed when I think of the support and love that we got from our locals and our business colleagues, especially those in the Brewers Guild,” he said.
Other impactful events include Covid lockdowns, the Port Hills fires, and the current economic difficulties the hospitality industry is experiencing.
“I guess it’s a bit like cricket, my favourite sport. Part of the highlight is coming out the other side of the pressure and the trials,” Bungard said.
Bungard is also proud of the small, everyday achievements that are part-and-parcel of running a brewery.
“We have made a successful family-owned business that prides itself on looking after locals, staff, arts, and the environment. I still get a big kick out of seeing a stranger go to the bar, order a glass of Three Boys off tap and to see them look with admiration and desire at that beer, that we have made with love and passion. It is a constant, wonderful, simple treat.”
