NZ Beer Awards

Winner of the ‘Barrel & Wood Aged’ category at the 2021 Brewers Guild Awards.  Aged for 14 months in NZ whisky barrels, quite possibly the world’s rarest wood, Kereru Amberine is a Belgian-style quad with an oak-aged twist rarely seen in European examples.  Burnt sugar, vanilla and toasted coconut on the nose, with butterscotch and even mysterious stewed rhubarb hiding further in.  Sumptuously full-bodied while remaining deft on the palate; initial buttery richness rapidly mobilises into more burnt sugar, then refreshing cola and drying oak tannin into the finish.  Magnificently full-flavoured, yet carrying that lightness of step that only long months of barrel maturation can provide.  Hard cheese and sharing (it’s 12 per cent ABV) is mandatory.

Brave Brewing Triumph At NZ Beer Awards

by | August 3, 2025 | News | 0 Comments

Brave Brewing and their cult IPA, Tigermilk, roared the loudest at last night's New Zealand Beer Awards in Christchurch. Brave Brewing, from Hastings, won a swag of trophies — with the most important being the title of overall Champion New Zealand Brewery. Moments...
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Guinness 0.0 Set for Wider Distribution in NZ

by | August 1, 2025 | Features | 0 Comments

Guinness 0.0 — the hard-to-get non-alcoholic version of Guinness — will become more widely available in New Zealand from later this year. Lion is the official brewing and distribution partner of Guinness in New Zealand but has not been able to get its hands on a...
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Mean As Win for Mean Doses in West Coast IPA Challenge

by | July 31, 2025 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

Tiny Wellington brewery Mean Doses captured the 18th annual Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge with their "no gimmicks" entry, The Scale of Mean. Mean Doses took out the coveted Golden Gumboots (gold spray paint, barely dried, as per tradition) last week — a big first...
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Ales On The Camino Trail

by | July 29, 2025 | Cover Story, Travel | 0 Comments

I’ve been a beer guy forever. I love the taste, the industry and the social connection of sharing a beer.  In the middle of Covid lockdown in Amsterdam in July 2020, I realised I didn’t love alcohol.  Well, that’s not the whole story — I didn’t like what I...
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Kegstar Picks Up Distressed Konvoy Kegs

by | July 25, 2025 | News | 0 Comments

Concerns about a shortage of kegs in New Zealand have been averted after Kegstar concluded negotiations to purchase their financially-stricken rival Konvoy Kegs. The two companies controlled the keg rental market in New Zealand and Australia until Konvoy went into...
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Brothers Beer Limey B*Stard West Coast Pilsner

by | July 24, 2025 | Recommended | 0 Comments

Much as I may still suspiciously view the West Coast Pilsner style as the former (and I thought far more indicatively named) IPL style re-entering the market with a fake moustache and glasses, it does seem to be sticking around, and more importantly, producing good...
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