High-tech brewery tour for beer fans

By DITA DE BONI liquor writer

Lion Breweries wants to share its passion for beer with its customers by developing a Heritage Centre in its Newmarket site for information-hungry beer lovers.

The company's 78-year-old Khyber Pass brewery will undergo a $3 million facelift, starting next month.

In the Heritage Centre, visitors will take a virtual tour of the brewing process, with 3D holographs and "time tunnels."

They will then be able to pour their own beer at the new brewhouse bar.

On the virtual tour, visitors will sit at 25 viewing ports with individual screens, and will be taken through an explanation of the brewing process.

The concept has been taken from similar initiatives, such as Speights Heritage Centre in Dunedin, which opened in 1999.

In Australia, Foster's has a similar centre in Melbourne.

Lion-branded beer has been produced in Khyber Pass since 1861, although the site used today has been brewing only since 1923.

Lion Nathan managing director Roger North says the city council and the Newmarket Business Association have been "extremely positive" about the development.

"The design and technology invested in this project will entertain and inform our consumers about our ... brands," he said, "and will reinstate the brewery as an iconic feature of Auckland."