Eddyline Happy Camper APA
We might be getting into the shoulder season, but this outdoorsy Nelson-brewed Happy Camper APA is here to embrace the last breath of summer. Citra, Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin drive a superbly sharp lemon citrus dominant nose, with some tropical fruit and funky gooseberry in support. The palate is brisk and breezy, and at only 5 per cent ABV, this strikes a great balance between fresh hop fruitiness, a clean malt body and tight bitterness. A crisp, fruity and exceptionally fresh APA that lands a bullseye on its target style.

Haagen Lager

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

As consumers, we all have two lines that constrain our habits.  Above, there’s the price ceiling, when the cost of beer gets above a certain point we’ll turn away.  That price ceiling has been talked about to death over the last five years (at least). ...
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Boneface X Brave Cold IPA

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

Cracks are already appearing in the fresh hop dam… but before we’re completely awash in those impending releases — one more conventional IPA. The third in Boneface Brewing’s rolling series of collabs (this time from Hasting’s Brave Brewing) and quite possibly the best...
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Sawmill Barrel-aged Imperial Porter

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

As a tribute to the official end of summer (or perhaps a final nail in the coffin, for those of us in Canterbury), I’ll turn to a more fireside coded drop, crafted by Matakana’s Sawmill brewery. In terms of its principle construction, this is a fairly simply patterned...
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Boneface Knuckle Duster West Coast Pilsner

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

The ‘West Coast Pilsner’ style continues to wander through the craft beer labyrinth somewhat without a bearing, and drifts further from its (admittedly flawed from the beginning) descriptor in the process.  It’s as much as I can do to classify them as ‘good ones’ vs...
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My Life In Five Beers — Matt Warner

by | April 1, 2026 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

While still at university in 2008 and after a hot Friday of Wellington hillside landscaping, I vividly remember propping up at the end of The Malthouse bar with my flatmate and being smacked in the face with a pint of Emerson’s Pilsner. It was brash, full of...
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Drinking In The Middle Lane

by | April 1, 2026 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

When my recent piece ‘A slow walk through paradise’ was published, a mate joked, “Jeepers BH, you’re a bit middle-of-the-road in your beer tastes to be talking to the craft beer community.”...
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