hoptimus prime

Speight’s Mid Ale was the somewhat controversial (in some circles) trophy winner of the Specialty & Experimental Category at the 2021 Brewers Guild Awards.  The secret to this unpretentious and affordable light beer’s (2.5 per cent ABV) success is its resolve to keep things simple.  Rather than trying to emulate some hop-driven style, Speights Mid is a largely malt-driven beer that replicates the Speight’s Gold Medal Ale experience with remarkable precision, given it’s almost half the strength.  Smooth, mild maltiness with just enough hop bitterness to keep the flavour refreshing.  It’s got plenty going on to keep the palate engaged, and with a typical price of less than $1.50 a bottle, it’s supreme affordability should not be understated.

Eddyline Hoptimus Prime Fresh Hop WCIPA

Fresh hop season is well and truly upon us now, with a deluge of fresh releases landing day by day. It’s been less a case of hunting them out and more one of deciding what to choose… The beginning of the season usually means a lot of hazy beers in the first wave while...

Hazzy Hunter vs Browns Bay Brewing Co

Andrew Ranum joined Deep Creek in 2016 as their General Manager. When the brewery sold the brewpub in Browns Bay, Andrew left his GM role and became a part-owner and brewer at Browns Bay Brewing Co.  He goes face to face with Joshua Lee aka Hazzy Hunter. Hazzy...

Mac Hops Celebrates 125 Years Growing Hops

Mac Hops in Motueka celebrated 125 years of growing hops with a bumper harvest, but it was also a harvest that summed up the tough nature of hop-growing — both now and historically. “We had some great yields come through but unfortunately it's not a great year to have...

The Beer Project — Mount Brewing

Paweł Lewandowski, head brewer at Mount Brewing, isn't supposed to be here. He was travelling around the world with a plan to spend a little bit of time brewing in New Zealand and Australia before heading home to Poland to start his own brewery. Eight years later he...

Coromandel — One Door Closes, Another Opens

When we began brewing at the Coromandel Brewing Company, “craft beer” was barely on anyone’s radar. The most common response when offering new customers a craft beer was, “craft what?”. Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed dramatically. While...

Mr Good Bar — Liberty Beers & Burgers

What sweeter thing to do on a sunny Auckland Saturday, I thought, than hit the road northwest for a bite and a beer in a town called Helen. Just 50 fairly easy kilometres from the city, here’s Helensville, named for a woman no-one much remembers anymore. She was Helen...