Sprig + Fern The Meadows is the Richmond tavern of Sprig + Fern Brewing Co., the craft brewery whose taverns stretch across the top of the South Island and down to Wellington. Like every Sprig + Fern tavern, it pours the brewery's own range: core beers such as Fern Lager, The O.G. Pilsner, Best Bitter and Future's Gold English IPA, hop-forward options like Chasing Hazy and Nectaron Pale Ale, dark pours including Norty Porter and Broken Axe Scotch Ale, plus fruit ciders, the Grown Up hard soda range and a non-alcoholic ginger beer.
The beer comes straight from a working brewery that holds itself to three stated aims — best ingredients, highest quality, consistency — and backs them with an award-winning record, a master brewer, a separate BRACT Brewing label and rotating limited releases like Wicked As! WCIPA and Choc Chilli Porter.
Beyond the bar, Sprig + Fern sells its beers in 888ml and 1.25L bottles through an online store with free urban shipping on orders over $90, offers keg hire for bigger occasions, and lists stockists nationwide.
Sprig + Fern The Meadows is the Richmond home of Sprig + Fern Brewing Co., one of the top of the South Island's most recognisable craft brewing names. It is part of a family of taverns that spreads across the Nelson and Tasman districts — Hardy Street, Marsden, Milton Street and Tahuna in Nelson city; Brightwater, Mapua, Motueka, Upper Queen, Little Sprig Wakefield and The Meadows in Tasman — and runs all the way down to five spots in Wellington. Wherever the fern hangs, the deal is the same: the brewery's own beer, poured fresh by people who know the range inside out.
Sprig + Fern is not a bar that resells other people's beer. Behind its taverns sits a working brewery whose mission is stated in three plain ideas: best ingredients, highest quality, consistency. The company brews under a master brewer, tracks its successes on a public awards page — medals and trophies from the annual beer awards feature prominently — and runs a separate BRACT Brewing label alongside its core brands.
That structure matters for what ends up in your glass. The beer on tap at The Meadows comes from the same brewery that fills the 888ml flagships and 1.25L bottles sold through the online shop, so a pint at the bar and a bottle at home are the same beer. It also means the tap list moves with the brewery: when a small batch is ready, it shows up at the taverns, and when it is gone, it is gone.
The core range is broad by craft-brewery standards. Lager drinkers are well served by Fern Lager, The O.G. Pilsner and Pinner Pilsner, with Tasman Reserve Premium Lager stepping up as the premium pour. Traditionalists get Best Bitter and Future's Gold English IPA. Hop fans can work through Chasing Hazy, Nectaron Pale Ale and the Awesome Mix West Coast IPA, while the dark end of the list covers Grizzly Porter, the chocolate-forward Norty Porter, Broken Axe Scotch Ale and The G.O.A.T Doppelbock.
Around the beer sits the rest of the range: apple, berry and mango + lime ciders; the Grown Up range of alcoholic ginger beer, lemon + lime and lemonade; and a non-alcoholic ginger beer for anyone not drinking. Limited releases rotate through on top of all that — recent drops have included Wicked As! WCIPA, Hazy Maze, the Choc Chilli Porter and Remarkable Rhapzody Hazy NZ IPA, several of which already carry sold-out tags on the brewery's website.
A glance at the brewery's most-popular list tells you what regulars lean towards: Tasman Reserve in its big bottle, Future's Gold, Best Bitter, Broken Axe Scotch Ale and the porters all feature. It is a list weighted towards classic styles rather than novelty, which says something about the crowd these taverns draw.
If a visit turns into a favourite, the brewery makes it easy to keep drinking it at home. The online store sells the core beers in 888ml and 1.25L bottles and 440ml cans, alongside mixed packs, ciders, the Grown Up range and merch, with free urban shipping on orders over $90 and a rotating set of cellar door specials. Keg hire is available for bigger occasions, and a stockists page points to retailers around the country. As you would expect from a licensed brewer, the shop verifies buyers are 18 or older.
You will find this tavern at 4b Central Park Lane in Richmond, in the Tasman district just outside Nelson. The location puts it in good Sprig + Fern company: fellow Tasman taverns sit in Brightwater, Mapua, Motueka and Wakefield, Nelson city has four more, and Wellington rounds out the map with five. For locals it is a neighbourhood bar; for visitors touring the region's beer scene, it is a reliable place to taste the whole range in one spot.
Whether you arrive as a lager-and-bitter traditionalist, a hazy-IPA chaser or someone after a ginger beer and a seat, everything at The Meadows is poured to the same brief the brewery works to: best ingredients, highest quality, consistency. Simple aims, faithfully executed — which is exactly why the fern keeps turning up on tap badges from Nelson to Wellington.