swifty

This wee new release from Urbanaut is a true lite beer at only 2.5% ABV; well past the dubiously broad ‘session’ bracket.  As such, it has the incredibly hard task of bringing the absolute minimum amount of malt to bear without the flavour falling into an insipid fizzy abyss.  So can this one pull it off? The aroma absolutely does, bringing sweet orange citrus, peach and white grape with an impact you’d expect in something at least twice the strength.  But the nose is the easy part, it’s the palate where the balancing act so often topples for these lite beers, but Juno, I’m pleased to say, lands it confidently.  Rather than presenting any huge upfront fruit, the flavour starts off mild and stays mild, which allows those hop driven aspects to sustain through to the finish, avoiding the trap of collapsing the mid-palate by trying to balance too many hops on top of it. This is a lite beer that really nails it, and it’s also not the first really good low ABV hazy I’ve encountered this year.  As much as I’m not a fan of the hazy application in big double IPAs, I think hazy really has something going for it on the other end of the spectrum.

Powerhouse Collab Launches Swifty

A new beer is not usually enough to justify a story but when you’re talking powerhouse brand names Nadia Lim and Garage Project, a beer called Swifty might be in a different league. I was wondering only recently when New Zealand might see a celebrity-driven beer that...

Brothers Beer Back In Business

Brothers Beer are back in business and aim to pay off all their creditors by the end of 2024 says new general manager Frans Bos. They’ve had a management restructure, just hired Dylan Adams as head brewer after he lost his job when Deep Creek went into liquidation...

Police Defend Dunedin Festival

Police are happy with behaviour at the Dunedin Craft Beer & Food Festival earlier this month despite the event generating international headlines after two assaults — one inside the venue, one outside. Festival director Jason Schroeder felt the bad publicity...

Free Glass Flagon Scheme Launches Nationwide

Dozens of high-profile breweries around the country, including Garage Project, Parrotdog and Emerson's, are today launching a scheme that provides customers with free, returnable, 1-litre glass flagons for takeaway beer purchased at taprooms and filleries. Backed by...

Hop Federation Hold The Line NZIPA

It was already shaping up to be a pretty good year for New Zealand IPAs — and Hop Federation have nudged it a little closer to a great one with this new limited release, Hold The Line.  Powered by Southern Cross, Taiheke and Nectaron, all of which should be found...

UPDATED: Deep Creek Owes More Than $4m

Deep Creek Brewing went into liquidation last week owing more than $4 million. The first report from liquidator Rodgers Reidy noted that Deep Creek Brewing Operations Ltd owed unsecured creditors around $3.5 million. They also owed ASB $603,845. Money owed to secured...