With the flood of new beers on the shelves of our local retailers it’s easy to go past something that stands out from the rest.  Luckily for me I stumbled across this beauty of beer from the team at Abandoned Brewing.  I must admit I have limited knowledge about the brewery and the beers they produce, but after sampling their hazy pale ale you can now count me as a fan! After doing a little investigating I discovered that Abandoned Brewery is located in an old disused factory in Lower Hutt.  The remnants of an old brewery were left but the team pretty much started again from scratch.  Their branding really effective…put simply, it looks like they’ve got a plain white can and used crayons to create the text.  You won’t find any psychedelic, multi-layered brand campaign on these cans, they simply describe the style of beer you should expect, which is really effective! The beer itself is bloody good! Pour the can and you get this light honey coloured liquid with the gentlest haze.  Nectarine, peach and passionfruit aromas galore and mouthfeel that is best described as light and powdery! At 5 per cent ABV the beer really holds up its complexity, very easy drinking and totally smash-able. If you’re looking for a summer fridge filler then you shouldn’t go past this beer… it’s now top of my list!

Inside The Malty-verse of Beer

In this new series, sponsored by Gladfield Malt, we look at the ways malt can make a beer shine. Garage Project Garagista “People say, what's your favourite beer? And I'm like, well, you know, you can't say your favourite beer because it's like saying your favourite...

The Beer Project — Aliment Brewing

This was always the dream for Jason Bathgate and Monica Mead. Living in paradise, brewing their own beers. Tasman was where Jason and Monica lived when they first moved to New Zealand in 2009 before brewing jobs took them to Renaissance in Blenheim, 8 Wired in...

The Hoptimist — Boom Town Brewing

Sunshine, scenery, and a cold beer—Marlborough knows how to show off. But when that beer is a Boom Town APA and your interviewee colleague is Clive Macfarlane, the man behind the brews and the banter, you’re not just having a good Sunday—you’re starting a great story....

The Man Behind The Cans

If you’re prone to a tipple of craft beer, chances are you’re more than familiar with the work of Wellington creative, art director and artist, Anton Hart. For more than 20 years, he’s been the force behind the aesthetics of multiple, high-profile Kiwi craft...

Fermented Culture — Elysian Fields

Kieran Haslett-Moore dreams of the beers he might drink in paradise “Sitting at rustic tables in rural pub gardens in Hertfordshire on long, warm, sunny summer evenings, talking with friends, clouds of cow parsley nodding over the car park wall and martins high above...

The Start Up Series — Twofold

This is the final part in a series dedicated to breweries that have opened up since the Covid-19 pandemic. The past five years have been tough for those in the brewing industry. The data is there: higher costs, lower consumer spend, alternative drinks. All are eating...