Waikato Draught

Waikato Draught
Manufacturer	Lion Breweries
Introduced	1925
Alcohol by volume	4.0%
Style	New Zealand Draught
Website	www.waikatodraught.co.nz

Waikato Draught is a New Zealand Draught-style Bitter beer brewed by Lion. It is mainly sold in the Waikato region of New Zealand but can also be found in stores elsewhere in New Zealand and abroad.

History

Waikato Draught was first brewed in 1925.^[1] Willie the waiter, a cartoon character, used to promote the beer as created in 1945. At this time, Waikato Draught was selling 400,000 gallons of beer each year and being brewed from the Innes Family Waikato Brewery.^[2]

It is thought that the Innes Family Waikato Brewery was the first brewery to be fully owned by a woman (Mary Jane Innes) in New Zealand.

In 1961, the New Zealand Breweries (later to become Lion Nathan) acquired Waikato Breweries from CL Innes.^[3] The brewery stayed open in Hamilton until 1987 when it was closed down. From this time, the production of Waikato Draught was moved to the Lion Breweries in Newmarket, Auckland.

In 2005, Waikato Draught was awarded a gold medal in the NZ draught category at the BrewNZ New Zealand Beer Awards.^[4]

The manufacturer claims that Waikato Draught has a strong malty flavour with a well-defined bitterness.^[5]

References

^ "Peculiar, but worthy". 11 October 2003. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
^ "Waikato makes a wish for Willie". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
^ "Our History". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
^ "BrewNZ 2005 Awards Results". 3 August 2005. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
^ "Waikato Draught". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.