It is thought that Captain Cook brewed New Zealand's first beer from a mixture of spruce and tea plants. Since then, beer making has evolved considerably in the country, though not in any noteworthy fashion. Today, Lion Corporation, the parent company of New Zealand Breweries, dominates the country's sweetish beers. However, there has been a small stirring of boutique microbreweries in the country, which shows some promise for the future. The first microbrewery in the Southern Hemisphere--Mac's--was established on the South Island in the 1986. Made from locally-grown hops and barley, Mac's Real Ale is brewed with lager yeast but has ale characteristics.
