Epic Lupulingus
Mountain IPA you say? It’s a rather romantic way of describing a beer that falls somewhere between the two in-vogue extremes (geographically speaking, that is) of West Coast IPA and East Coast IPA. The former, righteously bitter and brightly clear, the latter as furry and fuzzy and full of fruit juice flavours. Somewhere in between, again geographically speaking, is Colorado where Oskar Blues produced Dale’s Pale Ale (sweet and piney 6.5 per cent pale ale) and Odell created Mountain Standard, juicy fruity with some haze and a hit of late bitterness and thus a regional genre was a born. A handful of Kiwi breweries have played with the “style” including Deep Creek and Ground Up. Given the loose boundaries of Mountain IPA, it’s hard to say a brewery has nailed it as such, but Laughing Bones Treeline IPA (6.3 per cent) gives you exactly what it says it will: a beer that’s juicy, fruity, a little hazy but with an underlying bitter kick. Utilising a load of the tropical-meets-pine Sequoia hop blend, it truly is east meets west and a good waypoint for anyone who finds West Coast IPA too bitter or Hazy IPA too sweet.

Epic Lupulingus Imperial IPA

‘What’s Epic up to these days?’ is something I’ve been wondering recently. While the fate of Epic post-liquidation and purchase by the Russell Group probably warrants deeper investigation, I can confirm that whatever else might be going on, they have re-brewed...

Brothers Beer Nirvana Triple Hazy IPA

The post-Christmas slouch is usually a slow period for new beers, but Brothers have kicked 2025 off with a BANG, with Nirvana, a triple hazy IPA. What better way to begin a new year of reviews! I’ll say up front (and my musical knowledge is admittedly low) I do not...

Fresh Alibi — Meet The New Brewer

Jody Thomas has a beer CV that could fill this website from back to front but her new job as the one and only brewer at Alibi on Waiheke Island is almost like starting over. Thomas has worked in breweries up and down New Zealand as well as in Sydney, Geelong and...

Shining Peak Expand Into Christchurch

New Plymouth's Shining Peak have opened a branch office in Christchurch — setting up a bar and restaurant in the refurbished Sumner Post Office. Shining Peak have been looking for a new venue for some time and briefly looked at opening a venue in Queenstown, but they...

Mr Good Bar — Twofold & St Leonards

The good news is that, despite the occasional bad news, there are great new brew bars are still bubbling up all over the place. In central Auckland, for instance, I came upon two in a single afternoon – a sunny Sunday afternoon on the edge of summer, hope in the air....

Two Experimental Hops In Advanced Trials

Two of NZ Hops Ltd’s experimental hops are in advanced trials this season and they couldn't have asked for a better start. Both NZH-106 and NZH-109 have been selected for advanced growing trials so we’ll see more of those hops in our beers later this year. Andrew...