Sprig and Fern trifecta fresh hop hazy

Fresh Hop Watch 2022 is finally underway, and I just found my first packaged release.  This hazy pale (5.5 per cent ABV) features a combo of fresh hops — Pacifica, Taiheke and Motueka — from growers Kentishman Hops and Mac Hops.  Profoundly pithy citrus and crushed green herbs in the aroma, with a leafy herbaceous note creeping in on the palate.  The ultra-low bitterness really exposes all the quirky green notes that define a fresh hop.  May have fared better without the hazy treatment IMO, but still a nice warmup to tasting the season.

The Hoptimist — Double Vision Brewing

by | September 9, 2026 | Cover Story, Features | 0 Comments

How do you connect an all-terrain stroller with Double Vision Brewing’s Expatriate American Pale Ale? Well… it’s not exactly written in the Phil & Teds instruction manual, but the answer involves four workmates: Mario, Warren, Evarn and Harry — proof that...
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Urbanaut install bodyguard against ‘silent killer’

by | September 9, 2026 | Cover Story, Features | 0 Comments

Urbanaut Brewing in Auckland are the first craft brewery to install a LogiCO2 carbon dioxide monitoring system to protect staff and patrons against a “silent killer”. Urbanaut founder Bruce Turner said CO2 monitoring was on his to-do list when he started the brewery...
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Shining Peak Shining Bright Three Years Running

by | September 9, 2026 | News | 0 Comments

You have to go back to 2023 to find the last time Shining Peak missed a medal at the New Zealand Beer Awards. The champion small brewery — for the third time in four years — scored a perfect 20 out of 20 medals at the 2026 event. It was the most medals won by a...
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Pilsners Power to Podium

by | September 8, 2026 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

The two best competition beers in New Zealand this year are pilsners — and two absolute classics. Curiously they both come from craft breweries under the Lion umbrella, and they both use Riwaka hops (of course). What they also have in common is the way they push the...
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Garage Project Buy bStudio

by | September 4, 2026 | News | 0 Comments

Wellington's Garage Project have bought bStudio in Napier, moving from client to owner. It is a massive investment as bStudio — housed in the landmark National Tobacco Company building in Ahuriri — is one of the largest breweries in the country. It features a...
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Instagratification: Dusty’s Best of Winter

by | August 31, 2026 | Opinion | 0 Comments

Photographer, beer-lover and Instagram influencer Dusty, picks his highlights from the latest releases. Aliment X Froth Waimarama Wilding ale Waimarama Wilding Ale is a 5.8% colab ft Aliment Brewing x Froth Tech & Nelson's Brook Waimarama Sanctuary. Just wow! A...
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