Lakeman Primate Pilsner

A new all-American hopped West Coast IPA from Taupo’s Lakeman, with Amarillo, Citra and Zythos in the mix.  There’s lime and grapefruit up first on the nose, with a distinct Zythos’y tangerine note rising further back.  Remarkably focused grapefruit on the palate, with some pine and very faint passionfruit mixed in with the light and fresh malt base.  All good stuff, but the most striking thing about this 6.9 per cent IPA is the bitterness.  It kicks in right from the front of the palate, like chomping straight down on a grapefruit (skin and all), and it stays meshed with the citrus flavour right through to the finish.  Impactful, arresting and laser focused on its style.  One of the top IPAs I’ve tasted this year.

Lakeman Primate Pilsner

by | September 15, 2025 | Recommended | 0 Comments

Awards season rolls on, with the New World Top 25 joining the scrum of medals just last week. On that incredibly hotly tested list (and not for the first time either!) was Lakeman Primate Pilsner from Taupo.  The pilsner style (particularly of the NZ persuasion) is...
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Hop Federation Closing Down

by | September 11, 2025 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

Motueka-based Hop Federation will cease brewing next month following a strategic review by owners Kono NZ LP. Kono general manager Marina Hirst Tristram says the decision wasn’t easy and reflects a deliberate focus across the commercial businesses of Kono. "As part of...
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Garage Project Take Over Fortune Favours

by | September 3, 2025 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

Garage Project are opening two new venues in Wellington, including taking over the Fortune Favours taproom in Leeds Street. Fortune Favours closed its doors for the last time on Sunday but the venue will continue as a craft beer destination, with Garage Project moving...
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New World Beer & Cider Awards Winners

by | August 25, 2025 | News | 0 Comments

The 2025 New World Beer & Cider Awards have been announced. Here's the list of the Top 25 winners which will be available in New World stores over the next month. Champion Beer Isthmus 3D IPA Isthmus Brewing is the Auckland creation of husband and wife team Hamish...
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Isthmus 3D IPA Takes Top Award

by | August 25, 2025 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

Isthmus Brewing in Auckland have taken top spot at the annual New World Beer & Cider Awards with their 3D IPA. The awards, in their 10th year, feature some major changes with the Top 30 reduced to a Top 25, making it an ultra-competitive event. And this year,...
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Red Sea Conflict Drives Garage Project-Mikkeller Deal

by | August 12, 2025 | News | 0 Comments

The congoing conflict in the Red Sea is driving an unusual beer hook-up, with Garage Project brewing and distributing beer into Asia on behalf of Danish craft giant Mikkeller. Yemen's Houthi organisation, in reprisal for Israel's attacks on Gaza, are firing missiles...
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Brave Brewing — The Eye Of The Tiger

by | August 5, 2025 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

Just days before Brave Brewing won the Champion Brewery crown at the New Zealand Beer Awards, founder-brewer Matt Smith was wondering aloud about “imposter syndrome”. Talking to the Third Pint Theory podcast, Matt said that despite more than a decade of professional...
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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 | Features | 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 | 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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Winter Beer Selection — 20 Beers For The Colder Months

by | July 24, 2025 | Features | 0 Comments

Looking for a beer to keep you warm during the winter months? We've got you covered with our Winter Beer Selection Emerson's Deaf By Chocolate 9% / $17.99 500ml bottle Richard Emerson loves it when his ears burn. It either means he’s being talked about, or he’s...
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Brewing Up Fun — Double Vision Brewing

by | July 23, 2025 | Features | 0 Comments

It all started when four friends, Mario, Warren, Evarn and Harry, decided to brew some beer together for fun. It soon got serious, leading to them building a brew bar in Miramar, just down the road from Weta, in 2018. Cash-poor, they did a lot of the work themselves....
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Instagratification: Dusty’s Best of the Winter releases 2025

by | July 23, 2025 | Opinion | 0 Comments

Photographer, beer-lover and Instagram influencer Dusty, picks his highlights from the latest releases from this winter. 8 Wired Betelgeuse Red IPA Cold snaps require comforting brews and 8 Wired brewing fill that brief here with their 6% Betelgeuse Red IPA, it's...
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Peter Lines — ‘Rest Easy Mate’

by | July 23, 2025 | Features | 0 Comments

Peter Lines (July 29, 1957 — June 28, 2025) grew up surrounded by hops and spent more than 50 years working the land — which is exactly what he was doing when he died in a freak accident on June 28. Peter died when he was struck by a tree when trying to clear flood...
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UPDATED: How Many Breweries In NZ?

by | July 11, 2025 | Features | 0 Comments

What follows is an updated version of the list of how many brewing brands (Updated July 11, 2025; re-edited July 15 based on reader feedback). I started out in 2022 asking the question: How often have you seen the “fact” that New Zealand has around 220 breweries? It’s...
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Mr Good Bar — Two Thumb

by | July 9, 2025 | Travel | 0 Comments

Sniff in the right direction and Christchurch might smell a little more hopped up than it used to be. There’s more beer here than before, so much, in fact, that the Canterbury conurbation has been making cheeky claims to be the new crafty capital of Aotearoa New...
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Liberty Longshot Fresh Hop Imperial Pilsner

by | July 4, 2025 | Recommended | 0 Comments

You thought it was safe.  You thought the fresh hop season was over, and so did I to be honest… but we were wrong, with a late harvest fresh hop double collab between Liberty and Boneface landing well after the fresh hop season should have been over. The gist of...
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