baylands waifly 8

Baylands Waifly, now in its eighth iteration, is one of the recurring fresh hop releases on my “can’t miss” list.  It’s routinely one of the very best every season, and this year’s is no exception.  Fresh Nelson Sauvin leads the charge on the nose, with gloriously fresh passionfruit sorbet alongside Waifly’s signature gummy bear lollies.  Ripe and fresh on the tongue with sharp citrus rind and a streak of cooling menthol before the firm bitterness grips the finish. Another exceptional vintage for a beer that Baylands can confidentiality regard as a New Zealand fresh hop classic.

Bach Skinnay Ultra Low Carb Hazy Pale Ale

While low carb beers are bigger than they’ve ever been, it’s still uncommon to see the styles range too far from the lager safe-zone.  You’ll find a few zero% hazy IPA’s, but an actual low-carb-full-strength example is rarer.   Never idle for long,...

Epic Stout

While not to say that Epic is a total stranger to dark beer (they’ve made some extremely good ones over the years) it would be fair to say that it wasn’t exactly the style they’re known for.  So it was a surprise to see this one show up (and slickly presented too, I...

Renaissance Stonecutter Scotch Ale

Former Marlborough brewing icons Renaissance have been in the news recently, having finally found a home of their own again at the former Chinchiller Brewery in Kaiapoi.  Arguably Renaissance's most famous beer, Stonecutter is a delightfully nuanced take on an already...

8 Wired Superconductor Double IPA

Christmas has come early for me this year, as Warkworth’s 8-Wired has revived one of their (and very much one of my own) all time classic beers.  Superconductor Double IPA (8.8%) channels a similar energy to its legendary stablemate Hopwired, with sumptuous aromas of...

Bach Brewing Polygamy Pilsner

Summer heat has now well and truly arrived so it’s time to crack out the Pilsner. Bach Brewing's Polygamy (maybe one of the weirdest naming decisions ever) Pilsner is a re-brew of one of Bach Brewing’s early beers, a Bohemian style Pilsner called Czechmate (itself a...

Wigram Mustang Pale Ale

Christchurch’s Wigram Brewery recently hosted an event to pay tribute to the late Paul Cooper, one of the founding fathers of New Zealand craft brewing.  It was a quiet afternoon, but the amount of living history (and a few living fossils) in that bar could have...