Three Boys

Known for producing craftier, but still affordable six-packs, McCashin’s Brewery is now taking a similar approach to individual cans in the Legacy series.  Aside from the enticing price tag for this 5.9 per cent IPA, there was something that got my attention immediately: 500ml cans!  It proves there’s no logistical reason why I should be deprived of 60ml when craft beer goes from glass bottle to aluminium can.  But as ever, value alone can’t prop up a bad beer, so does this one have the chops? The nose on this certainly checks all the West Coast boxes, with grapefruit, apricot, rockmelon and gentle pine.  Pithy grapefruit is very dominant on the tongue, with a light but still reasonably chewy malt and a drying bitterness.  It might not have the rockstar razzle of a super-premium craft example, but it’s easily 90 per cent of the way there and at damn near half the price ($5.99) of a 440ml can (plus that 60ml extra) the value here is incredible. 

Three Boys Sold

Three Boys, one of New Zealand's most important craft breweries and a two-time champion brewery, is in new hands after being sold. The brewery, founded by Ralph Bungard and his wife Brigid Casey, is now owned by the head brewer Damian Treacher and his business...

Bach Brewing Polygamy Pilsner

Summer heat has now well and truly arrived so it’s time to crack out the Pilsner. Bach Brewing's Polygamy (maybe one of the weirdest naming decisions ever) Pilsner is a re-brew of one of Bach Brewing’s early beers, a Bohemian style Pilsner called Czechmate (itself a...

Hop Federation Saved — Bought by DNA

Hop Federation has been saved. After the brewery was shuttered by previous owners Kono just a couple of months ago, Hop Federation will live on after Blenheim’s DNA Brewing stepped in and bought the brand. https://hoppiness.co.nz/hop-federation-closing-down It’s a...

Parrotdog Go Public

In one of the biggest signs that craft beer is now a mature business, punters can buy and sell shares in Parrotdog on the open market via a new trading platform called Catalist. There hasn't been a publicly listed brewery in New Zealand since Moa's inglorious NZX...

Festival check: Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival

A Wellington reader made the trip down south last Friday to attend the festival and filed this report. Arrival experience: The festival is held each year at Forsyth Barr Stadium in the centre of Dunedin. It was an easy 10 minute walk through the grounds of the...

Wigram Mustang Pale Ale

Christchurch’s Wigram Brewery recently hosted an event to pay tribute to the late Paul Cooper, one of the founding fathers of New Zealand craft brewing.  It was a quiet afternoon, but the amount of living history (and a few living fossils) in that bar could have...