Lionzone - Lion Nathan Brewery Tour
I went and did the tour of the Lion Nathan Brewery based in Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand recently. This brewery is one of the 2 big players in the New Zealand market(the other main player being DB Breweries) and is also quite big in Australia.
The tour mainly focuses on Lion Nathans two flagship New Zealand beer products which are Lion Red for the local market and Steinlager which is aimed at the local market but also at the international market.
Some of the other brands Lion Nathan produce in New Zealand are Speights, Macs, Waikato Draught, Canterbury Draught, Rheineck(thought this died years ago but its still around) and they also brew Stella Artois and Guinness as well as other international brands for distribution in the local market under licence.
Initially the tour allows you to view a recreated coppers shop, a fascade of the Captain Cook Hotel from where the brewery originated and the early distribution methods through to the aluminum keg and B-train distribution of today.
Then you are taken to an auditorium to view a history of the company that is presented by the former Lion Nathan chairman Doug Myers, it goes over the history of beer and the company to the present incarnation of the Lion Nathans Brewery group.
The tour then progresses through various rooms wher you are shown the ingredients of beer(hops, barley) and see a video that outlines the stages in the brewing process, interesting stuff.
Next you are shown an old 1960’s type of bar when 6 o’clock closing was still around and various Lion Red and Steinlager marketing campaigns of the past with Lion Red focusing on manly advertising campaigns and Steinlager’s association with the All Blacks and New Zealand’s Americas cup campaigns.
The last part of the tour takes you into the pacakaging plant where you see how the beers are packaged and then finally it is on to the bar for 10 minutes where you get to sample the product with Lion Red and Steinlager on tap but with some of the other products also available from the fridge.
Overall I enjoyed the tour, our guide was knowledgable and friendly, the only downside was I thought more time in the bar, say 30 minutes would have been better 
Have a look for yourself at: http://www.lionzone.co.nz/
