Brewer and Beer Presentations Alan Knight joined the brewing industry in 1987 and started brewery training in Toronto with the Upper Canada Brewing Co then moved to the Amsterdam Brewery in the city's business district. In 1989 he sat his exams for the American Beer Judge Certification Programme to qualify as a judge in brewing competitions. Later that year he also formed his own company where he began consulting and contract brewing for an assortment of breweries. At one stage he was leaving the house every morning with the keys to seven breweries in his pocket. The memory of this still gets him all misty eyed.

In 1993 he was offered a job with Miners Brewery in Westport, New Zealand. He spent a day in the town for his job interview, unaware that the brilliant sunshine on that particular day was the first the town had seen in many years. When he arrived to start work he got to see what the West Coast climate is really like.

In 1995 he moved to Hamilton for an eighteen month stint as start up brewer for the Kahikatea Brewery, and then got back into consulting work. Since then he has worked in another eight New Zealand brewing operations, ten assorted projects in Australia, as well as Norfolk Island and Rarotonga.

Alan's involvement with the Waiheke Brewery began when he was asked to visit for half a day to do an assessment of the newly arrived brewing equipment. One look at the island was all it took to convince him that this was where he wanted to be based from that point on.

Presentations

Wild on Waiheke Brewer Alan Knight has a passion for all things malt related. When he’s not busy in the brewery making the beer, he’s out and about sharing his knowledge in tutored beer tastings or Evening of Scotch Whiskey.

Beer Presentation & Tasting

A typical tasting can involve anywhere between two and five different styles of beer with Alan’s detailed explanations of the merits of each interspersed with various legends and anecdotes of the history of beer making. Starting off with simple, classic beer styles and then moving on to more exotic and unusual brews, these presentations are an excellent way to find out more of what the world’s brewers have to offer.

An Evening of Scotch Whisky

However, if you fancy something a little stronger there’s the ‘Evening of Scotch Whisky’. Alan’s Celtic heritage shows in his passionate love of whisky and his knowledge of the subject is encyclopedic. Whisky evenings can range from the classic tour of Scotland’s principal producing regions, the ‘Black Sheep’ tasting featuring atypical malts from the regions as well as more specialised evenings focusing on some of the newer and more innovative whiskies emerging on the market.

Whether its beer or whisky you’d like to taste and learn about, Alan is happy to hear from those looking for an evening’s entertainment with a big dash of malt.