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!

 

Spirit Of Derelict Lives On At No 19 Brewing

The win by No 19 Brewing in the NZ Stout Challenge on July 11 in Christchurch has a direct connection to one of the country’s most celebrated but short-lived breweries: the newcomers are creating their beer on the brew kit once owned by Derelict. No 19 Brewing are...

Wilding Working Wonders For The Wilderness

Kudos to the team at Froth Technologies for the work they’re doing with their New Zealand native yeast, Wilding. I’ve always enjoyed the handful of beers where Wilding has turned up: notably the first brew Emerson’s did to showcase the yeast as well as Three Sisters...

Flood Shuts Emporium Brewing

Emporium Brewing in Kaikoura will be closed until further notice following the devastating flood that roared through the town last week. Owner-brewer Paul Finney has just had insurance assessors through the premises which includes a brewery, bar, escape rooms, and a...

Garage Project Top Cutter NZIPA

The Smith’s NZIPA challenge concluded for another year last weekend, and some of the entries are already hitting the shelves in package.  While not one of the notable winners (go South Island Brewing!), this entry from Wellington’s Garage Project was the first of the...

8 Wired Rogue & Villian ESB

Though I daren’t speak it too loud for fear of jinxing it, this has (so far) been something of a revival year for ESB, with even flash North Island brewers giving it a go. Rogue & Villain is the latest such release, from one of said flash North Island brewers,...

Boneface The Darkness American Stout

Boneface have a new (or old, actually) dark beer out for the winter months, with a classic of the old ownership's core range, The Darkness (5.8% ABV), making a fresh appearance.  While the original bore the style of ‘India Stout’ the ever-shifting naming conventions...