Brewed for Here: Two Thumb Finds Its Place in Rolleston

Good beer without the ego. It's a simple enough idea, but in a craft market crowded with attitude, Two Thumb Brewing Co. has made it a genuine point of difference — one that has found a natural home in Rolleston.

When Two Thumb's leadership team went looking for a fifth venue, there were a few options on the table. What brought them to Rolleston wasn't a gap in the market or a favourable lease; it was something harder to manufacture.

"Rolleston is a growing community hub — reliable, welcoming, and proudly local," says Chief Executive Chris Mulholland. "That's exactly what we're about."

That alignment matters. Since Mark Limber and Dave Dixon acquired the Manchester Street Brewery Bar in 2017, every expansion has been governed by the same principle: find the right location and then get the delivery right. Success will follow. So far, the formula holds: Colombo Street in 2022. Diamond Harbour in 2024. Redcliffs in 2025. Rolleston in March 2026.

In Selwyn's case, the community made the first move. District regulars had been making the trip into Colombo Street for years, and the question kept coming up: when are you coming to us? When the right site appeared on Tennyson Street — good bones, a solid landlord, room to do it properly — Two Thumb had its answer.

What the district gets in return is a very experienced local operator. Two Thumb's brewing credentials are well established in Canterbury: approachable brewery-fresh craft, hand-pull taps championing traditional British styles at a time when most venues have abandoned them, and the SMASH series — single malt, single hop experiments built to showcase Canterbury-grown ingredients with minimal interference. The Yorkshire Bitter & Black Forest pour from traditional hand-pulls at cellar temperature, naturally carbonated, alongside modern crowd-pleasers like the Sunshine Hazy IPA and Low Carb Lager. Around a dozen beers rotate at any time.

The ingredients are resolutely local. Base malts from Gladfield in Darfield, hops are Bold River Hops from Okuora Farms in North Canterbury, water from the artesian ground beneath Canterbury's plains.

"We're pretty blessed to have the spoils of our malts and barleys and hops right at the back door," Mulholland says. "Sourcing locally isn't just about sustainability — it's about making the best beer we possibly can with what this region produces."

The same attention to detail carries through to how the brewery itself operates. Solar arrays power the bars, kitchens, and pumps. A thermal loop pre-heats a 6,000-litre holding tank and recaptures heat from the brewing process, cutting grid electricity overheads by around a third. Rainwater is harvested. Wastewater is treated onsite. Spent grain goes out daily to North Canterbury livestock farmers as stock feed. It is a system built for the long haul.

"Sustainability isn’t a trend for us," Mulholland says. "It's part of being a good local business — the approach is practical and grounded. We're a solar powered brewery, we harvest our own rainwater, we've got our own wastewater treatment onsite, and we source as local as possible to support local businesses that are in it for the right reasons. For us, it’s about long-term operational thinking."

That resolve has survived recent testing. Global economic pressures and rising freight costs have squeezed the hospitality sector hard. Two Thumb has absorbed where it can rather than pass costs on.

"You can't pass everything on to the people you're trying to serve," Mulholland says. "We’ve embraced this community and we know we’re supported by them."

For a business choosing where to put its fifth venue, the quality of the regulatory environment is not a footnote, it’s part of the calculus. Mulholland has spent more than 30 years in hospitality and dealt with local authorities the length of the country. He knows the difference between a council that supports growth and one that merely tolerates it. Selwyn, he says, is very much the former — crediting consents staff member Amanda Boyce with making the process straightforward from day one.

"The Selwyn District Council has always been known for being easy to deal with," he says. "I can't speak highly enough of them — they made the decision to be here even more compelling."

With a franchise model now ready to launch, the business is open to the right people: those who want a lifestyle change or have a passion for hospitality, community and the value of building a good local.

"We look at every opportunity that comes our way through a community lens, always. If it's right, we'll back it. The more people support us, the more we can continue to support the communities around us."

"We feel incredibly lucky. Rolleston has backed us from day one, and we're here for the long term — growing with Canterbury and the Selwyn District, hopefully for years to come."

Two Thumb Brewing's Rolleston venue is at 51 Tennyson Street, Rolleston.