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.

Panhead Supercharger X Double APA

Creating a great new beer is a fraught and illusive enterprise, requiring inspiration, experimentation and restraint in equal measure.  But what if there was another way?  What if one could simply take an already colossally popular release and just… make it more? In...

Brew Moon Hophead IPA XL

Brew Moon Hophead IPA is a beer with a very long history, one I myself found myself documenting last year on the brewery’s 20th anniversary.  But, as change comes to all things, so it does to one of New Zealand's most historic IPAs in the form of this ‘XL’ version. ...

Parrotdog Cold IPA

As the new Cold IPA style has continued to evolve, my taste for these deliciously bright and crispy beers has developed in kind.  As I’ve tasted my way through this year’s multitude of examples, the idea of what makes a "good" Cold IPA has suitably resolved in my mind...

Beer Baroness Little Mighty Session IPA

I can see why Beer Baroness Little Mighty won a trophy at the New Zealand Beer Awards in the low and no-alcohol class. It’s the single best 2.5% beer I’ve consumed. There have been various benchmarks for the "session IPA" — and for a long time that started an finished...

Behemoth Clayton F#$%ING Hops! (Nelson Sauvin Hop Oil Edition)

Behemoth’s 'Clayton' series of single hop-grower NZIPAs have won incredible recognition in the recent Brewers Guild Awards, reaping a mighty swag of three gold medals (including the trophy) and soundly dominating the New Zealand Styles category.  The trophy winner was...

Emerson’s Taieri George 20th Anniversary Special

Taieri George is one of our most special beers.  Brewed once a year, and every year, since the passing of Richard Emerson’s father.  It’s named after a famously excellent typo, on a certificate presented to George Emerson by the local council, thanking him for all his...