Photographer, beer-lover and Instagram influencer Dusty, picks his highlights from the latest releases
CANYON BREWING TO CENTRAL WITH LOVE
Take a seat — this one is a ride! To Central With Love is a barrel-aged pinot noir wild ale, an all Central Otago colab, ft Canyon Brewing, Carrick Wines, Garston Hops, locally grown Queenstown malt and yeast from local thyme flowers. The brew itself is aged on oak for 13 months then refermented creating a piquette-style brew. Vibrant pops of red berries and black currants hit first followed by secondary spice, the oaky barrel notes give it depth an layered complexities, mouthfeel is effervescent with tart-sweet components before a drying finish. A spectacular brew that caters to the hop and grape heads, and a true homage to all things Central Otago.
Workshop Brewing Big Red
The team at Workshop Brewing have absolutely smashed it with Big Red, an 8.2% imperial Red IPA. It pours a beautiful mahogany hue with notes of overripe apricot and peach sitting atop a rich gooey toffee caramel, there’s additional piney resiny licks on a super smooth mouthfeel completing one smooth operator! Highly recommend this.
Wanaka Beerworks Brewski
This tastes like spring! Bohemian Pilsner from Wanaka Beerworks delivers on all fronts: it’s light, super-crispy with delicious hits of lemony floral goodness all sitting atop of a crusty bread-like backbone. Crusha of a brew and a great fridge filler.
Mount Brewing La
La is a 6.3% Black IPA and part of Mount Brewing Co’s yin-yang series. I love black IPA and this brew epitomises everything great about the style, rich an chocolatey upfront meets a robust piney resiny mouthfeel; there’s pithy citrus pops all tying together a remarkable Black IPA. A gentle carb and slow-drying chocolate finish round out a must-sample brew.
Liberty God of War
God of War was Liberty Brewing’s winning entry in the Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge and it’s easy to see why! This westy is full of punchy citrus with some underlying peach which creates a marmalade medley. It’s sticky, resiny, oily and there’s a slap of piney bitterness and a chewy biscuity sweet malt backbone bucking the new mod westy trend and taking gold and glory for the old school WCIPA fans.
Heyday Blackberry & Black Pepper Farmhouse Sour
Built for spring afternoons, a new tin drop from Heyday Beer Co, Blackberry & Black Pepper Sour Ale is an invigorating drop. Mellow farmhouse funk vibes and blackberry tartness play seamlessly with spiced pepper and subtle clove, a sherberty carb and clean mouthfeel round out one refreshing brew.
Abandoned Hazy #17
The #17th iteration of Abandoned Brewery’s hazy series is upon us, this one featuring Mosaic, Centennial and Nectaron. It’s a juice Molotov! loads of mango, pineapple, orange upfront followed by secondary pine and subtle blueberry. Super thicc mouthfeel and tingly carb plus juicy finish complete a total package banga and tin art is contender for label of the year.
Baylands Hop Protocol
Hop Protocol is part of 3×2 mixed sixer from Baylands and this 5.8% hazy pale ale features Superdelic in the hop department. Expect big juicy apricot, peach notes with low key red berry vibes, it’s soft yet so juicy with a sticky candied finish, showcasing Superdelic in all its glory.