Garage Project 10
A big birthday requires a big beer and in this case Garage Project have delivered a monster! Fresh off their win at the 2021 NZ Beer Guild Awards, New Zealand’s Champion Large Brewery of the year has produced a triple hazy IPA celebrating 10 years in the brew game. The name says a lot about what’s in the can.  Ten different hop additions; no two the same. Cryo, incognito, hop oil extract and pellets added at different times throughout the brewing process from mash to ferment. To say this beer is complex is an understatement.  The use of 10 hops has added layers that really challenge my reviewing skills — but I’m up for it. Big fruity aromas smack you firmly in the face leaving you under no illusions of what’s to come. The first mouthful is a delight sending taste buds in all directions as I try to decipher what exactly is going on.   At 10% ABV the alcohol heat is present throughout the experience but as a beer lover I expect it when in the “Imperial Zone”. You have to be pretty bloody bold even taking on this this style of beer but as always Garage Project have come up trumps.  They’ve made the perfect beer to encompass all they have achieved over the past ten years. Happy Birthday Team GP!  Thank you for all you have done in the New Zealand brewing industry, you’re pioneers, leaders and most importantly continue to challenge the norm! Here’s to the next 10 years.

Test Lab Pale Alien IPA

Test Lab Brewery (Christchurch) have been on the rise this year, and given that they’re a brewery I could walk to, I’ve been gravely remiss in taking this long to feature one of their beers.  And as my first check-in with their range, it was always going to be...

Four Square’s Behemoth ‘Brollab’

Four Square is celebrating 100 years of trading by showcasing four products this summer under the banner “Brollab” — and one of them is beer. Alongside a special Birthday Cookie from Cookie Time, the return of the Orange Rush Fruju and a Four Square-branded Wattie’s...

Beer Legend John Harrington Dies

One of the true legends of the New Zealand beer scene, John Harrington, has died. Harrington started Harrington’s in 1991, and the Christchurch brewery grew to be one of the biggest independent breweries in the country in the early part of the 21st century. Originally...

More Magic From Garage Project

A heavy reliance on chance, luck and magic is not usually a desirable feature in a beer, where precision can be the difference between a world-class drop or a drain pour. But when it comes to the spontaneously-fermented kind, at least some of that is required to make...

The Beer Project — McLeod’s

18 January, 2024: Jason Bathgate, head brewer at McLeod's Brewery in Waipu, Northland, has pre-warned me there may be chaos. He's back at work after a bout of Covid and there is a long list of jobs for him and his crew to catch up on. Thomas, his assistant brewer, is...

Three Boys Double Down On Champion Status

Amongst the myriad trophies awarded at the annual Brewers Guild Awards, the most elusive prize is also the one you have to give back, albeit with your brewery’s name forever inscribed on this coveted piece of metal (fashioned as a miniature fermenter).  With...