Altitude Brewing opens new chiller to support award-winning growth

Altitude Brewing has opened its new “Pretty Big Chiller” at 37 Industrial Pl in Queenstown, turning a cold-storage upgrade into the latest marker of how far the brewery has outgrown its original setup. The new facility was opened by Southland MP Joseph Mooney and is aimed at improving beer quality, freshness and production levels as demand for Altitude’s core beers keeps rising.

For a brewery built on hop-forward flagships and clean lager work, the investment lands at exactly the right point in the growth curve. Founder Elliot Menzies has made the case that beer is a fresh product and should be treated that way, saying cold storage matters for preserving hop character, flavour stability and overall beer quality from tank to glass. In practical terms, that means tighter control over the beer after fermentation, more consistency from batch to batch and the breathing room to produce more without losing the finish that has made the brewery stand out.

The timing also follows a major run of recognition on one of the industry’s biggest stages. At the 2026 Australian International Beer Awards, Altitude retained the Champion Small International Brewery title, won Best Modern Pale Ale for Foggy Goggles Hazy IPA and Best Pilsner for Powder Day Pilsner, and collected 20 medals in total, including five golds. The competition drew more than 2,200 entries from 381 breweries across 22 countries, putting Altitude’s results in a field that is large, international and fiercely contested.

That award haul adds weight to the expansion. Altitude, founded in 2013 by a Queenstown local, operates a 1200L brewhouse at 827 Frankton Road in Frankton and has already gone through several phases of expansion. Even so, the brewery says it is still too small for demand, with its core range attracting more interest than ever while the business tries to keep every batch inside strict quality standards.

The new chiller is more than extra storage space. It is the infrastructure a brewery needs when a reputation built on Foggy Goggles Hazy IPA, Powder Day Pilsner and a growing medal count starts pulling harder than the plant behind it.