A new one for me, this ‘American’ pilsner promises to be even more hop forward than the New Zealand variant.  You might suggest that puts it pretty close to IPL territory, which probably isn’t far wrong, but with Boneface being the current holders of a Brewers Guild trophy for exactly that style (The Outlaw), I see that as a plus.  The aroma blends familiar citrusy noble hop aromas with distinctly American stone fruit and melon.  The palate is sharp, taut and incredibly fresh, with a cleansing bitter finish that lingers on the citrus.  It’s a fairly big pilsner at 5.5 per cent, but nicely rapid and refreshing nonetheless.  An intriguing and satisfyingly full-on evolution of the NZ pilsner style.

Haagen Lager

As consumers, we all have two lines that constrain our habits.  Above, there’s the price ceiling, when the cost of beer gets above a certain point we’ll turn away.  That price ceiling has been talked about to death over the last five years (at least). ...

Boneface X Brave Cold IPA

Cracks are already appearing in the fresh hop dam… but before we’re completely awash in those impending releases — one more conventional IPA. The third in Boneface Brewing’s rolling series of collabs (this time from Hasting’s Brave Brewing) and quite possibly the best...

Sawmill Barrel-aged Imperial Porter

As a tribute to the official end of summer (or perhaps a final nail in the coffin, for those of us in Canterbury), I’ll turn to a more fireside coded drop, crafted by Matakana’s Sawmill brewery. In terms of its principle construction, this is a fairly simply patterned...

Boneface Knuckle Duster West Coast Pilsner

The ‘West Coast Pilsner’ style continues to wander through the craft beer labyrinth somewhat without a bearing, and drifts further from its (admittedly flawed from the beginning) descriptor in the process.  It’s as much as I can do to classify them as ‘good ones’ vs...

My Life In Five Beers — Matt Warner

While still at university in 2008 and after a hot Friday of Wellington hillside landscaping, I vividly remember propping up at the end of The Malthouse bar with my flatmate and being smacked in the face with a pint of Emerson’s Pilsner. It was brash, full of...

Drinking In The Middle Lane

When my recent piece ‘A slow walk through paradise’ was published, a mate joked, “Jeepers BH, you’re a bit middle-of-the-road in your beer tastes to be talking to the craft beer community.”...