Duane Morton, former Brewing Manager at Vietnam’s Heart of Darkness Brewery, has swapped the high-rises of Saigon for the palm trees of Bali to take up the position of Head Brewer at Black Sand Brewery.

The brewing veteran broke into the craft brewing world as a packaging and dispatch manager at the Invercargill Brewery in his native New Zealand over a decade ago. Since then, his brewing journey has included a stint at Moa Brewing Co and a Lead Brewers role at Upper Hutt’s highly acclaimed Panhead Custom Ales (during a power growth phase).

Duane’s rapid rise in the industry led him to look for opportunities overseas where he landed a brewery commissioning roll which later morphed into a Head Brewer/Brewing Managers position at Vietnams’ Heart of Darkness Craft Brewery.

Passionately dedicated to his craft, Duane is particularly renowned for his process optimization and recipe development skills. During his time with Heart of Darkness he produced in excess of 400 different beer styles over the last 5 years. Many going on to win accolades at international beer competitions.

With a new challenge on the horizon Duane has made the move to the Island of the Gods and joined forces with Mattia Di Bitonto, co-founder of Indonesia’s Black Sand Brewery, located in Bali’s infamous beach hotspot of Canggu.

The team at Black Sand lead by Mattia have been brewing and serving high quality fresh craft beers month after month for two years now, providing surfers and locals alike a place for good times and great memories.

“I’m excited to be joining Mattia and the team to build on the solid success they’ve achieved. Their plans for the future fit well with both my skill set and the direction I would like to see the industry heading” said Duane.

With Duane at the helm, look for big things to come out of the Black Sand Brew House in the very near future.

Mattia Di Bitonto (l) & Duane Morton (r) at Bali’s Black Sand Brewery