For a man who began home-brewing only in April last year, initially using two plastic 20-litre buckets in his back shed at Mornington, he has achieved remarkable success.
His first five brews last year may have been ''catastrophic'', but he quickly bounced back, becoming champion brewer at the Society of Beer Advocates' competition in Hamilton last November.
Mr Bransgrove was also ''pretty stoked'' yesterday after winning the home brew competition, run as part of Beervana, a celebration of craft beer which ended in Wellington on Saturday.
His latest success was in brewing a ''saison'', a dry-tasting beer which had traditionally been brewed in Belgium during the winter months to provide a refreshing drink for the summer.
One key to success, he says, was being ''self-scrutinising'', carefully analysing any shortcomings in his latest brew, in order to make more improvements.
His goal was to become a self-employed boutique brewer -''to brew would be excellent because it's a good creative outlet''.
