Since it began with that outrageous 15% Hazy IPA, these seasonal mini-imperials in 250ml cans from Urbanaut have become one of my favorite series of beers.  Saison is a style that scales up comfortably, getting up around the 8% mark in the strongest examples, but a full 10% is not something I’ve never encountered before.  Big fruity esters adorn the nose, peach starburst lollies, delicate orange citrus, with coriander and white pepper adding some spice.  Sweet pithy citrus ahead of gently warming spice and a hint of ginger on the palate.  Remarkably medium-bodied considering the strength, with fairly low bitterness and a long complex finish.  An excellent drop, and a fine demonstration of how adaptable and robust the saison style is.

Haagen Lager

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

As consumers, we all have two lines that constrain our habits.  Above, there’s the price ceiling, when the cost of beer gets above a certain point we’ll turn away.  That price ceiling has been talked about to death over the last five years (at least). ...
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Boneface X Brave Cold IPA

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

Cracks are already appearing in the fresh hop dam… but before we’re completely awash in those impending releases — one more conventional IPA. The third in Boneface Brewing’s rolling series of collabs (this time from Hasting’s Brave Brewing) and quite possibly the best...
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Sawmill Barrel-aged Imperial Porter

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

As a tribute to the official end of summer (or perhaps a final nail in the coffin, for those of us in Canterbury), I’ll turn to a more fireside coded drop, crafted by Matakana’s Sawmill brewery. In terms of its principle construction, this is a fairly simply patterned...
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Boneface Knuckle Duster West Coast Pilsner

by | April 13, 2026 | Recommended | 0 Comments

The ‘West Coast Pilsner’ style continues to wander through the craft beer labyrinth somewhat without a bearing, and drifts further from its (admittedly flawed from the beginning) descriptor in the process.  It’s as much as I can do to classify them as ‘good ones’ vs...
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My Life In Five Beers — Matt Warner

by | April 1, 2026 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

While still at university in 2008 and after a hot Friday of Wellington hillside landscaping, I vividly remember propping up at the end of The Malthouse bar with my flatmate and being smacked in the face with a pint of Emerson’s Pilsner. It was brash, full of...
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Drinking In The Middle Lane

by | April 1, 2026 | Cover Story | 0 Comments

When my recent piece ‘A slow walk through paradise’ was published, a mate joked, “Jeepers BH, you’re a bit middle-of-the-road in your beer tastes to be talking to the craft beer community.”...
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