They say entrepreneurs are born and not made, but when it comes to brewers the opposite is true - and in the case of Hamilton's newest brewery they were made as a result of high alcohol prices.
Three Fat Pigs brewer and marketer Tim Cursons first began brewing as a student, and co-founders Morgan Coster and Damian Houghton were a similar story.
"It started off with a pot in the shed and eventually built into a home brew stand at home," said Morgan.
It was in August last year over drinks at the Hamilton Brewers' Association that the three amateurs sat down and decided to give brewing a proper go.
Three Fat Pigs are currently producing around 500 litres every month, which will generally make up four kegs and 400 bottles.
Tim said the team was eager to increase production but had to work with the management of Shunter's Yard, a small brewery in Matangi.
Currently all three brewers have other jobs, but still manage to handle the brewing, bottling, labelled and marketing between them.
The brewers currently have six beers to their name, including the Roasted and Toasted oatmeal stout, Brooklyn Wolf American pale ale, Waikato Express pale ale and Red Riding Hood red ale and Rifle Ranger, another IPA.
Any Hamilton craft beer maker will inevitably be compared to Good George, which has seen a number of accolades in its four years of operation, but the team at Three Fat Pigs said it would take them a little longer to reach the same level.
"We would like to get there but for us it's going to be lots of steps, not so many big leaps," Tim said.
"It pays for itself and makes a profit, that's why we've been able to grow. You've heard of an exponential growth - when the growth starts at 100 it goes up with a steeper curve than when it starts at one."
"We are at about three at the moment," chipped in Morgan. "We probably started at a half."
That's not to say Three Fat Pigs don't have their own triumphs. They boast the fastest sold-out keg at last year's Craft Hamilton event when their first beer, the Roaster and Toaster oatmeal stout, inexplicably sold out during the hot summer day.
As well as making beer, the team is looking at perfecting the design of their three-tiered brewing system, which they hope to one day produce for sale so anyone can set up an easy brewing operation at home.
Between the three they have a perfect set up with a plumber, a chemical processing engineer and a mechanical engineer, allowing them to put together their own brewing system.
"I hold the spoon during taste testing and I clean the bottles too - I'm always ready to help out on tasting day," said Morgan.
The brews are currently on tap at a number of bars around Hamilton, including Hamilton Beer and Wine Co and Dough Bros on Victoria St, Little George and Craft Hamilton on Hood St.
They are also in a number of bottle shops, but the team said they had not yet broken into any of the supermarkets.
"They are a hard nut to crack. A lot of the larger places have worries about continuity of supply," said Tim.
"If we had a pallet of beer they would take the whole pallet," said Damian.