blood & bone oaked stout

Three Boys Gas NZIPA was originally brewed as a collaboration with Burkes and took third place at the 2021 Smiths IPA challenge.  Now Three Boys have got it into cans for a wider release in their Brewers Reserve series.  For an NZIPA the nose manages some strikingly American notes. Grapefruit and orange citrus, apricot and lychee with some spice and rosewater. The palate is packed with rich juicy malt, bittersweet red grapefruit and candied orange peel.  Great concentration of flavour precisely contained by a firm bitterness.  A superb reminder of just how good an all NZ-hopped IPA can be.

Boneface Blood & Bone Oaked Stout

Since their recent ownership shakeup, Brewtown’s (aka Upper Hutt's) Boneface Brewery have been rolling out new releases with a relentless energy, such that I’ve had some samples piling up shamefully in the auxiliary fridge.  This week I’m finally making some headway...

Chance Luck & Magic — And Hard Work

At Beervana, The Third Pint Theory was joined by Garage Project founder Pete Gillespie and Wild Workshop brewer Dave Bell for a Q&A session on Chance Luck & Magic 2021, the Champion NZ Beer. At the session we sampled the hard-to-get 2021 vintage as well as the...

Instagratification: Dusty’s Best Spring Beers

Photographer, beer-lover and Instagram influencer Dusty, picks his highlights from the latest releases from this winter. Isthmus 3d IPA One of the best an under the radar IPAs in NZ gets some well-deserved shine and credit taking out supreme champion brew for 2025 New...

Fermented Culture — Holy Mountain

Before the Kapiti Expressway opened, a drive north up State Highway One from Wellington would take you under a 14m statue of the Virgin Mother standing high on a foothill of the Tararuas. As a child it was an important landmark on our journey to my grandparents’ house...

Lakeman Primate Pilsner

Awards season rolls on, with the New World Top 25 joining the scrum of medals just last week. On that incredibly hotly tested list (and not for the first time either!) was Lakeman Primate Pilsner from Taupo.  The pilsner style (particularly of the NZ persuasion) is...

Hop Federation Closing Down

Motueka-based Hop Federation will cease brewing next month following a strategic review by owners Kono NZ LP. Kono general manager Marina Hirst Tristram says the decision wasn’t easy and reflects a deliberate focus across the commercial businesses of Kono. "As part of...