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.

Port Road Pilsner Supreme Winner At NWBCA

The 2026 New World Beer & Cider Awards have been announced with Panhead's Port Road Pilsner named the supreme winner. It's a welcome return to the awards stage for this beer — for a number of years it was an annual inclusion in this event (and a regular gold...

Hop Growers Start Their Own Brewery

New Zealand’s newest brewery belongs to one of our most prominent hop growers. Cultivar Brewing, owned by Mac Hops, is taking over the site previously home to Hop Federation and will be run by hop farmer Brent McGlashan alongside his wife Ria. Former Hop Federation...

Derelict Are Back!

When Derelict Brewing unexpectedly closed down in 2024 after just six years in business, much of it as New Zealand’s top-ranked brewery on Untappd, it was scarcely believable. Owner-brewer Sam Cottier had created so many incredible beers in such a short time it felt...

Magic Week For Neck Of The Woods

In the space of six days, start-up brewery Neck Of The Woods went from virtually unknown to the toast of Tauranga after winning the title of Champion Microbrewery at the New Zealand Beer Awards and then winning the Golden Gumboot at The Malthouse West Coast IPA...

Not Such A Nutty Idea

This is an intriguing development — cashew nuts in beer to approximate the creamy texture you might normally get from lactose. That’s what 8 Wired did when they collaborated with Wellington plant-based chocolatier Wonderland to create Talia, an imperial chocolate...

Leading Malt Producer Celebrates 100 Years

Joe White Maltings, Australia's largest malt producer, is celebrating 100 years of specialty malt production. The milestone reflects a century of innovation, quality and collaboration, supporting generations of brewers on both sides of the Tasman with premium...