There were some standouts and commonalities when the Pursuit of Hoppiness team compiled their beers of the year for 2025.
An overwhelming favourite was Emerson’s Pride of The Plains Pilsner, the 30th anniversary rebrew of the genre-defining NZ-style pilsner that Emerson’s gave to the world in 1995. It’s presence on so many lists was enough to make it our beer of the year.
Other threads in this list? Lots of black cans! Not sure what that signifies. But there was a lot of love for Jason Bathgate’s new brewery, Aliment. Plus there seemed to be a strong sway towards classical European styles on our lists.
Michael Donaldson
Hallertau Maximus XX IPA
The original Hallertau Maximus was one the formative influences on my life in beer. And in a year when throwbacks and revisits were an integral part of the landscape this one stood out for me. To celebrate 20 years in brewing, Hallertau went back the old Maximus recipe with a modernised version. I rarely order beer twice … my beer-writing career always seems to be about the next thing, and the next thing and the next thing. But I went back for more of this because it was so damn good. IPA the way it used to be, juicy, malty, bitter, hoppy, yummy. Outstanding beer. Just delicious.
IPA the way it used to be, juicy, malty, bitter, hoppy, yummy.
Emerson’s Pride of Plains Pilsner
Another anniversary beer. This one celebrating 30 years since the original creation of the all-organic Emerson’s Pilsner, the beer that revolutionised brewing in New Zealand and created a global beer style in its own image. Single-hopped with Riwaka, this is jam-packed with flavour. Sweet citrus and tangy passionfruit combine on the palate and lead to a firmly bitter finish. Great minerality and crispness and one of the best after-tastes I’ve had in a beer this year.
Urbanaut 420 Hazy IPA
Apart from Three Sisters Lush, no beer made me smile as much as this one. The latest, and most-obviously named, in Urbanaut’s terpene-spiked series, this featured Runtz which supposedly makes people talkative, happy, and giggly. It was definite mood enhancer for me and as my wife described it: “It’s like drinking a joint.”
8 Wired Sticky Barley Wine
When I first raved about this beer, I thought I was on a limb as no-one else seemed to be talking about it … but then it popped up and won the fruit & flavoured trophy at the NZ Beer Awards so I felt vindicated. A barleywine brewed with dried plums, raisins and dates, it’s a 12% sticky date pudding. Layered, textured, complex, heart-warming.
Shining Peak Feijoa Sour
8 Wired’s Wild Feijoa Sour Ale has been a benchmark for beers made with one of our favourite autumn fruits, and I don’t take my responsibility lightly when I say Shining Peak’s version gives the OG a run for its money. A mix of 12- and 24-month-old mixed ferment ale is further aged in oak barrels while resting on feijoas before being bottle-conditioned with Brettanomyces yeast. Tart, luscious with layers of vanilla, feijoa and some savoury elements.
Tim Newman
Epic Kong Strong Ale
I feel like Kong (8%) was a beer that I was the only person on the Earth to notice (and speaking to its creator Luke Nicholas recently, that may have indeed been the case). However, as a truly yeast driven beer from a mainstream producer, this Imperial Hefeweizen(ish) was extremely rare to see, and by my reckoning extremely good. Fresh and doughy, with a downright remarkable big banana energy.
Downright remarkable big banana energy…
Garage Project Bastard Rye Grand Reserve 8 Years Old
Some beers you don’t even need to taste to know they’re special. From the vital statistics alone it was obvious that this 14.7% Grand Reserveversion of Bastard Rye was going to be one for the ages. Stronger than most NZ wine, older than most NZ whisky, and just superlatively good. Old bush honey and beeswax, polished leather, walnut, tobacco, toasted coconut and Macintoshes toffees. Unmissable and unrepeatable.
Boneface Deadlift Double IPA
Deadlift was quite simply one of the most precisely brewed double IPAs that I’ve tasted not just this year, but any year. Its quality wasn’t in any one particular character of its flavour (although its Citra hops were masterfully applied), but in the faultless balance of its production. Aroma, flavour, weight, bitterness and finish all interlock in a flawless unison of brewing confidence.
Behemoth Chur-Toberfest Festival Lager
For me Chur-Toberfest marked a major “we’ve finally got there” moments for New Zealand craft brewing. It was a local take on German Helles that actually (finally) worked. It didn’t just work either, it was fresher than an imported example could ever hope to be, and consequently, even better. Now if someone could just achieve the same thing with ESB…
Volstead FreshtopiaFresh Hop Pale Ale
The 2025 fresh hop season could be fairly called a little muted compared to the stellar offerings of the preceding year, with many releases just lacking that “know it when you-taste it” X-factor that makes those beers special. Local Christchurch brewer Volstead Trading Company bucked that trend however, and with their first fresh hopped release too. Lime cordial, crushed mint leaf, stunningly distinct white grape but — most crucially — that synesthetic taste of ‘green’ that makes a fresh hop come alive.
Dusty
Mount Brewing Triple Overhead Stout
An 11.3% stout colab between Mount Brewing, Pinta from Poland & Latvia’s Arpus Brewing. Pure decadence, roasty toasty, dark chocolate, caramelized sugar, sweet vanilla. Just perfection.
Pure decade, just perfection
Boneface Bone Shaker Imperial Pilsner
This 7% Imperial Pilsner from Boneface is the greenest oilest fresh hop of the season, a deluge of passionfruit an spritely grapefruit…banga!
Altitude Brewing Tunnel Vision
The 2025 standout of the hybrid style that is West Coast pilsner, Altitude Brewing Tunnel Vision is clean and crisp, with sweet-tart passionfruit, overripe pineapple, a bristly bitterness and snappy dank finish.
Behemoth Prince of Darkness
Black IPA is the King of beers styles and Behemoth’s Prince of Darkness delivers rich dark chocolate meets roasty toasty malts meets resiny pine & zesty citrus also, on this occasion, pineapple.
Duncan’s Carrot Cake Spiced Ale
Carrot Cake Pastry Spiced Ale from Duncan’s is unique clever and beautifully layered. A beer cake featuring carrot, cream cheese, spice and subtle vanilla. It’s pure insanity.
Denise Garland
Emerson’s Pride of the Plains Pilsner
Just like the olden days. You get an incredible citrus hit on the aroma as soon as you pour it, with grapefruit, passionfruit and earthy flavours to boot. It has a crisp, dry finish that makes it too easy to finish your glass. A national treasure.
A national treasure
Mean Doses Scale of Mean WCIPA
The winner of the 2025 Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge, and it’s easy to see why. A punch-you-in-the-face kind of aroma, with a huge hop load of tropical fruit and pine, an enduring earthy bitterness, and balanced expertly with a proper pale malt cushion that travels you back in time a decade. While its initial distribution was extremely limited, more is on the way for summer!
Cell Division Gothique Dark Saison
I have not been the biggest fan of dark saisons in the past, but Gothique was a stand out for me at the return of the Winter Ales Fest in June. It has the addition of pomegranate and orange zest, which somehow gave it a lovely berry-like flavour, and paired beautifully with the slightly sweet spice of the yeast.
Orval Trappist Ale
I had the privilege of sharing a bottle of old and new Orval with my boyfriend at the Bruxelles Oamaru beer festival at Craftwork in July, thanks to some expert cellaring by Craftwork’s Lee-Ann Scotti and Michael O’Brien. What a special experience, and boy does it change with time! (I’m team old Orval).
Emerson’s Ducks in a Row Dark Mild
I couldn’t help myself, OK? This is toasty, nutty goodness. Not too heavy, not too light. Just right, no further notes required.
Kieran Haslett Moore
Emersons Pride of the Plains Pilsner
This year I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Dunedin and importantly a wonderful afternoon with my friend and mentor Richard Emerson. It just so happened to be his late mother Ingrid’s birthday, so we drank pints of the wonderful spicy fruity Weissbier brewed in her memory. We also had Pride of the Plains, a special version of Emersons Pilsner brewed to the old recipe which had to change as the brewery’s growth outstripped hop supply. It had all the magic passionfruit, grapefruit and lime I remember from two decades ago.
All the magic I remember from two decades ago.
Rudd House ESB
On the same trip I was lucky enough to stumble across this wonderful malty English style special bitter at a café in Port Chalmers. Set up by Olly Rudd, Rudd House is a small Dunedin brewery which specializes in traditional beer styles. It packed all the punches a good ESB should, fruity ferment character, hedgerow hop flavour, and a warm cuddle of malt. An excellent match to my mince and cheese pie.
Cell Division Raven
While in the south I was did a collaboration brew with Port Chalmers nano brewery Cell Division. Raven is their Quadruple / Strong Belgian Dark Ale with added dried fruit. This is a beer after my own heart. The style is a dream when paired with aged cheddar or blue cheese. The added flourish of dried dates, cranberries and prunes ups the port wine like oomph to 11.
Boneface / Mount Smoked ale
In a sea of tropical nonsense, it is refreshing to stumble across anyone doing something unusual. Well, it doesn’t get much more different than the Polish Grodziskie style. The respective head brewers channelled their Polish ancestors. Oak smoke, wheat, bright hopping and surging carbonation all add up to a flavour experience. In common with a lot of smoked beers one starts the glass wondering if this beer is really for you and by the end you are craving another.
Shining Peak Flemish Bruin
I have drunk and brewed my fair share of Flemish red and brown ales in my time. They don’t come much better than this. A seamless combination of aged passionfruit like fermentation character, funk, oak, and a rich malt character that has held its ground against the ravages of time in the barrel. A master class in balance.
Martin Bridges
Garage Project Dr Pete’s Fortifying Brown Ale
It’s no secret I love a good brown ale and this was a cracker. Such a comforting beer. Lashings of sweet malt, nuts and chocolate. There have been a few more brown ales around in the last year, maybe a renaissance is on the cards?
Such a comforting beer.
8wired Tallboy IPA
The first of the 500ml cans to hit the market. It’s not the most complex or exciting of the beers on this list but in terms of bang for buck, it over-delivers. Such a great everyday drinking beer at a superb price-point.
Brave Tall Story West Coast IPA
It takes a super-impressive beer to overshadow my beloved Tigermilk, but this did it for me at the Brave taproom in Hastings. The depth and complexity of the hop flavour was mind-blowing, backed up by a grippy bitterness.
Emerson’s Pride Of The Plains Pilsner
Back to the future time with this rebrew of (close to) the original recipe for Emerson’s Pilsner and it brought the memories flooding back. Beautiful expression of Riwaka loveliness.
Sawmill Vintage Barleywine
This could be on my list for the next few years — it still has a hefty amount of bitterness so it will be good in the cellar for a while. Lovely rich malt, which will only deepen over time. Ridiculously good value, too.
JoAnne Carr
Hop Federation The Serpent West Coast IPA
Bursting with papaya and mango; a golden colour to echo the golden fruits; oily orange zest throughout the palate with a lovely grapefruit depth to the coiled bitterness. Biggish ABV is cheekily masked by crisp drinkability. A superb beer from start to finish.
A superb beer from start to finish
Aliment Brewing Polka Kolsch
A masterpiece in German hopping with a firm bitterness that evolves into extreme quenchability. ‘Tis impossible to only have one of these. Another warm weather drop to bookmark for the summer.
Rhyme x Reason Hopes x Dreams Experimental Pale Ale
Sips of a tropical fusion: passionfruit, pink grapefruit, limes, mandarins and a resinous dankness. Smooth and drinkable, accompanied by a lovely hop presence throughout. Refreshing, warm weather pale ale – worth travelling to the Rhyme x Reason taproom in Wanaka for this summer.
Abandoned Berliner Weisse
A perfect blend of subtle tartness and refreshing lemon, lime and peach on the palate. Perfect on its own or sweetened with an accompanying syrup (available at Abandoned taprooms).
Workshop Brewing Chop Hop American Pale Ale
I always end up offending someone by saying something like this, but APAs aren’t my favourite style. However, I know what makes a good one, and Chop Hop is just what you want in an APA. Mango, orange and passionfruit on the nose. Excellent drinkability, just enough bitterness, and a brisk dryness on the palate that balances it to perfection. At the risk of imposing on an infamous brewery tagline, I immediately exclaimed, “Fuck, that’s good!” on trying.
Jed Soane
Hallertau Stuntman XX IIPA
Brought back to celebrate Hallertau’s 20th birthday, this is an old-school classic. Bold and bitter. And it has my favourite beer label. Makes me smile every time I see it. This was also the beer they were brewing when I photographed them back in 2010 so it holds a special place in my heart (and belly).
Stuntman has my favourite beer label. Makes me smile every time I see it.
8 Wired Tall Poppy
Another old-school favourite back for a limited run. So good I was compelled to have a pint whenever I saw it on tap. With a diminishing number of red IPAs around I sometimes feel like I’m single-handedly trying to keep up the demand.
Aliment Full Stop Unfiltered Pale Ale
From old to very new. Jason (ex-McLeod’s) Bathgate’s new brewery in Riwaka is pumping out so many great beers but this one with a trial hop, CIP 014, from Clayton Hops really wowed me. A brewery (and hop) to watch out for.
North End Rhum Visitation Oaked Quadruple
OK, technically this beer is from 2019, but I pulled it out of the cellar for a special celebration with old friends. At 10.7% I definitely needed someone to share it with. Deeply dark and delicious. Sad we won’t be seeing any more of these barrel-aged beers from North End.
Mean Doses Dösen Kölsch
I’m not a big fan of Kölsch in general, although this was an excellent one. But what made this special was the whole experience of Kölsch service at the Mean Doses bar. A new beer delivered to you as soon as your glass was empty, with your beer mat as your tab. And the currywurst! Wirklich gut!
Jessica Allen
Altitude Brewing Snowed In
Such a stellar brew – everything a good beer should be and nothing more. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’ve not had too many bocks in my time, but this was delicious. Notes of toasted bread, caramel and a hint of dark fruit will delight your tastebuds. Super smooth, very drinkable – Prost!
Such a stellar brew – everything a good beer should be and nothing more.
Heyday Beer Co Mango & Jalapeno Salsa Sour
I don’t love spice so was nervous to try this, but was pleasantly surprised. A beautiful balance between lush juicy mango and a subtle heat, plus a tiny hint of sour lime that lingers at the end. It’s a refreshing brew that I can see myself enjoying on a warm summer’s day.
McLeod’s 10 Pound Poms Best Bitter
Living up to its name, this beer took me straight to the UK, drinking a perfectly poured hand-pull in a classic English pub. A traditionally-inspired Bitter, it’s malty with a hint of caramel and a smooth bitterness. Best part of it all is you don’t have to go to England to enjoy!
Double Vision Brewing Love Handles
Strawberry Daiquiri Sour Beer – this does exactly as the name says. It’s sour, it’s fruity and it’s dangerously drinkable. Infused with real strawberry puree and lime juice, it’s fresh and certainly offers something a little different to a traditional brew.
Parrotdog Coconut Hazy IPA
I’m a sucker for cute packaging and coconut, so it’s no surprise I gravitated towards this – thankfully it lived up to expectations. Medium-to-full bodied, it’s fruity and wonderfully hazy. A pina colada in a can – I’m sensing a pattern here – I try and stick to summer-friendly beers for my top picks of the year, and this one won’t disappoint. Notes of pineapple and mango round it all out.
David Barrington
Isthmus 3D IPA
Awarded ‘Supreme Winner’ in the New World Beer and Cider Awards, whose judges are chaired by none other than the editor here at Pursuit of Hoppiness, it was described as living up to its name by delivering a bold, multi-layered flavour experience. And who am I to argue with some of the best beer judges in the country?
Garage Project Party & Bullshit
This year I’ve been trying to brew a top-notch NEIPA at home and this beer is the standard I’ve set myself. Lofty ambition? Perhaps. But I am getting closer. One upside is I’ve done more than a few side-by-side comparisons in the name of research.
Urbanaut Te Henga West Coast IPA
From the East Coast to the West Coast for a stand-up iteration of the style. It’s punchy and full of zesty citrus fruit flavours of lime, grapefruit and orange with a bit of pine to bridge the gap to the not-insignificant bitterness.
Aliment Brewing Bathgate Pale Ale
Let’s be honest here, if you’re naming a beer after yourself you are probably pretty proud of it. I went out of my way to track this one down and found it on tap at Churly’s. Jason Bathgate’s eponymous brew was worth the Uber fare.
If you’re naming a beer after yourself you are probably pretty proud of it.
Parrotdog Raptor APA
The Wellington brewery retired its original American pale ale, Falcon, and installed Raptor as the new incumbent. It’s a go-to when the need calls for a straight-up, solid and inexpensive beer without some of the bells and whistles of its fancier fridgemates.