Parrotdog Bruce Fresh Hazy IPA
Being my first fresh-hopped beer of 2022, I was eager to get Bruce out of the can — expectations high!  My eagerness was rewarded immediately as the room quickly filled with that dank, grassy fresh hop aroma I live for each season!  While Nectaron may be the industry’s new love affair, using Nectaron in conjunction with Riwaka hops in this beer is the master touch!  The drinking experience is everything you can hope for —nice upfront peach and tropical fruit flavours with a neat, dry finish.  The best part of this beer for me is how it seductively coats the inside of your mouth with trademark oily resins, envying that of a Texan Oil Baron. I’ve always felt it a challenge to bring fresh hop and hazy characters together successfully in a beer, but luckily for all of us Parrotdog have nailed it.  Bruce is beautifully balanced, and jam-packed full of those familiar fresh hop flavours and aromas we all dream of each April.   We are truly blessed here in New Zealand to have a hop industry that’s hot right now!  As beer drinkers we are the winners!

 

Bach Brewing Sticky Buds III

I’m far from ready to declare a favourite from this year's fresh hop season, but I surely have some contenders, and the third edition of Bach Brewing Sticky Buds (by way of Steam Brewing) is most definitely on the list.  Fresh Nectaron is the pick here, supporting a...

8 Wired Fresh Hopwired

It’s here… the full force of the fresh hop storm is upon us, and I find myself again in the (not so arduous) position of having vastly too many releases to choose from. So for this week’s feature, I’ll pick one that I’ve been most looking forward to reuniting with. ...

Hallertau Fresh Hop Belgian Ale

When it comes to fresh hops, it’s a bold move for a brewer to step outside the IPA and Pilsner paddocks, but Hallertau Fresh Hop Belgian Ale is unique (and bold) for even more reasons. A fleetingly rare example of a North Island hopped beer, using hand picked cones...

Thief Brewing Brood Mother

One of the first Canterbury fresh hops on the scene this year, Brood Mother Hazy IPA is brewed just over the hill at Thief in Banks Peninsula. While most freshies tend to stick to one or two hop varietals (for logistics as much as anything else), Brood Mother casts a...

Sprig + Fern Harvest Pilsner

Sprig + Fern’s ultra-classic Harvest Pilsner is always amongst the very first heralds of the impending hopocalypse, and frequently remains one of the best till the end of fresh hop seasons. This season’s release (it’s 16th outing!) presents a gentle citrus and cut...

Haagen Lager

As consumers, we all have two lines that constrain our habits.  Above, there’s the price ceiling, when the cost of beer gets above a certain point we’ll turn away.  That price ceiling has been talked about to death over the last five years (at least). ...