You have to go back to 2023 to find the last time Shining Peak missed a medal at the New Zealand Beer Awards.
The champion small brewery — for the third time in four years — scored a perfect 20 out of 20 medals at the 2026 event. It was the most medals won by a brewery that returned at a 100% record with the next best being Heyday on 12/12.
In 2025 Shining Peak returned 19 medals from 19 entries and missed a third straight small brewery title because they came up against the unstoppable Brave Brewing that year — the Hastings outfit winning eight gold medals on their way to an emaphatic overall champion brewery title.
In 2024 Shining Peak had 15/15 and in 2023 they had a disappointing (joking!) 17/18.
It’s a pretty phenomenal legacy of consistency.
Co-founder and brewer Jesse Sigurdsson says the results are more than just good beer. He notes that because they have a very busy taproom (and believe me, it is very busy) the beer is always fresh.
Jesse’s also focused on the brewery’s barrel-aging programme and that’s netting some stunning results.
He also learned a lot about where to place entries, and when not to enter beers, from recent judging experience, especially the Australian International Beer Awards.
“That really helps with your knowledge of where your beers need to be entered. If they’re in the wrong category, you can get punished for it.”
It meant that this year, for example, he didn’t enter their popular Bogworks Pilsner because it wasn’t quite hitting the guidelines for NZ-styles.
“It didn’t feel like it was a guaranteed medal because it just wasn’t fitting the style parameters so we left it out.”
Outside the IPA Trophy for Bravo! Jesse is most happy about two of his barrel-aged beers getting gold medals: Flemish Bruin and Rustic Sour.
The Rustic Sour is a blended sour which features at one barrel that’s four years old.
“It’s a pretty polarising one for the judges as it could go either way. But the judging notes came back and it was exactly what we were trying to achieve with it. Very Chardonnay-like and not overly sour, just nice and balanced.
“And the same with the Flemish Bruin it’s not it’s not big and malty, like they can be, but it’s balanced and nuanced … delicate, I think.”
A gold for Magic Dart Pale Ale was also welcome as it’s a beer they love in the brewery but because it’s a pale ale, it doesn’t sell as fast as IPAs.
Jesse says Shining Peak are on the verge of being a medium-sized brewery, with their Sumner Post Office venue added to the mix. But it would probably take another venue to create the demand for increased production.
“We would like to do that at some point, for sure, either in Taranaki or further afield — we just haven’t found the right spot yet.”