20 things about the NZ Beer Awards
McLeod's the stars of the show; how Parrotdog edged out Garage Project; who scored 100% medals; where have all the wheat beers gone?
Welcome to Friday Night Beers everyone.
And tonight I’m going to deep dive it into the NZ Beer Awards announced last week. There were some amazing results and a little — just a little — bit of controversy/discussion.
I can’t cover everything so forgive any oversights, but in no particular order here are 20 things about the awards:
McLeod’s were the story of the night. No disrespect to Three Boys for taking the Overall Champion Brewery title but honestly the Waipu team captured the imagination with an amazing 8 gold medals, the champion medium brewery title and the champion beer. They smashed it to bits.
Head brewer Jason Bathgate did tell an interesting story on the podium when he picked up the Champion Beer trophy for Tropical Cyclone Double IPA. Jason was a judge at the event, including the final taste-off of all the trophy winners to determine the winner. Afterwards, not knowing the results, he went back to the brewery and told his fellow brewers there were “a couple of beers that [final] line-up and I don’t know how they made it through” … “and this is one of them,” he said raising the trophy. Just shows how funny and fickle judging is!
There’s been some discussion around the champion large brewery and how Parrotdog dethroned the seemingly invincible Garage Project, given GP won six medals to Parrotdog’s four and the competition is decided on the best four results, followed by a countback. But the rules state that beers brewed under contract that win gold are not eligible for this award. So, Garage Project Beer and White Mischief, both brewed at bStudio in Napier, were ineligible*, which meant it was four golds versus four golds. At which point it’s a countback which would have ended with Parrotdog’s 9th silver to GP’s 8. Or perhaps the next line in the rules kicked in to save everyone the bother: “Consideration will be given to entries from the entrants that have been awarded trophies.” Given Parrotdog won two trophies (Sundog Pilsner and their L.B. Cold IPA) the title is theirs.
*However, given that Garage Project wouldn’t be a “large” brewery if they didn’t brew at bStudio it seems kinda weird to not count those beers. Maybe next year they can enter as a small brewery and only put in Wild Workshop beers?
I did speak to Jos Ruffell from Garage Project about this and he was magnanimous: “Parrotdog won it fair and square. You can’t win two trophies and not be champion brewery. If I were them and didn’t win., I’d feel hard done by.”
Seventy-seven percent of entries won medals. One might argue that this is too many medals to give out. But if the quality is there, then why not acknowledge it? But also I think breweries are getting way smarter about their entries and only putting up beers they think are good enough to contend. Just look at Behemoth. Last year they entered 52 beers and this year it was half that: 26.
A number of breweries had 100% records, bagging a medal with every beer. But some stood head and shoulders above the rest by entering 10 or more beers and staying perfect. So, congrats to Sprig & Fern (20/20), Parrotdog (20/20), Shining Peak (15/15), Panhead (14/14), Three Boys (12/12), Good George (12/12), and Bach (10/10).
McLeod’s missed medals with two beers, one of them was Longboarder Lager, which won the trophy last year and was in the New World Beer & Cider Awards Top 30 this year. If Longboarder was a racehorse, there would be an inquiry…
Hats off to Sprig & Fern The G.O.A.T Doppelbock, which won a trophy for Amber & Dark Lager or Ale. It’s fast becoming one of New Zealand’s most-awarded beers alongside modern greats such as Panhead Port Road Pilsner, Three Boys Oyster Stout and Epic Armageddon.
Mount Brewing knocked off a long-awaited huge achievement. A week or two before the event, for this newsletter, I was talking to Niall Harley about Mount Brewing’s past year of success, which included winning the Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge in 2023 and the NZ Stout Challenge this year. “All that’s missing,” I said to Niall, “is a trophy at the NZ Beer Awards.” And what do you know? Shades of the Pacific won the Stout and Porter Trophy!
Speaking of Shades of the Pacific. It was last week’s Beer of the Week … if you recall. And two weeks ago I had Good George Virtual Reality Non-Alc Pale Ale as my top pick and that won a trophy as well. Just saying … stay with me for all the hot tips!
On Good George Virtual Reality Pale Ale — to win the trophy in the Low, No and Reduced Alcohol class is some achievement given it was up against 2.5% beers. Remarkable.
If like me, you were wondering how Beer Baroness Slice of Heaven NZ IPA could win the Juicy / Hazy Pale Ale trophy … I think I’ve figured that out. The Brewers Guild use the US Brewers Association guidelines and they (the Americans) separate out Hazy/Juicy into three categories — Pale Ale, Strong Pale Ale and IPA. The minimum ABV for entry as an IPA is 6.3%. Many NZ-brewed Hazy IPAs fall under that 6.3%. So, at 6%, Slice of Heaven was in the (strong) Pale Ale class.
What more can you say about Sawmill and their unprecedented approach to doing good while making great beer. They took out the Sustainability Trophy for the fifth year in a row. I know I’ve joked in the past that it should be renamed the “Sawmill” Trophy and maybe the Brewers Guild can take a leaf out of FIFA’s book and give the Matakana crew a permanent trophy as FIFA did for Brazil when they won their third World Cup. The NZ Herald did an excellent story on what makes Sawmill great. NZ Beer Awards 2024: Sawmill Brewery wins Sustainability Award for fifth year in a row - NZ Herald
From a crunching-the-numbers scenario, you cannot do any better jump off to Phil Cook’s Beer Diary and enjoy his inimitable combination of rigorous analysis and free-flow interpretation. I don’t know how he does it, which is why I leave such things to him! Medals and math VII — returns, reshuffles, and rarely used rules | Beer Diary (philcook.net)
Kudos to Brayden Rawlinson at Fork & Brewer. He’s worked damn hard in the head brewer role he took over from the legendary Kelly Ryan and believe me, those were big gumboots to fill. And he’s also got his Nine Barnyard Owls side project going on over in the Wairarapa, so he’s a busy fellow. But his efforts returned Fork & Brewer to the top table as champion microbrewery.
The champion small brewery title tends to get shared around. So it was a massive effort from Shining Peak to hold on to it two years running. Plus they got a trophy for Detained & Fabulous.
Back to Parrotdog for a minute. They won the international lager trophy with a Cold IPA, which maybe turned some heads. But a Cold IPA is brewed with a lager yeast. That was a keg-only release and as a massive Cold IPA fan, I’m asking for a packaged release. Please and thank-you.
Big ups to Craig Cooper from Bach Brewing for getting the Steam Brewing crew up on stage for his trophy acceptance in the Hazy/Juicy IPA category for Bungy Smuggler. Bach beers are brewed under contract by Steam but there’s a very strong partnership operating there. And while we’re here, hats-off to Steam for the Champion Manufacturer Trophy. They do a lot of good for a lot of breweries, particularly in the non-alc space where they’ve done a heap of R&D.
I don’t want to end on a downer but … it might be time to get rid of the Wheat class. Just six entries made it to the judging table. This saddens me a lot as I love wheat beers, but reality is what it is, as they say, and since not many people drink them, not many breweries make them. Although I can say with certainty that there were definitely more than six wheat beers brewed in New Zealand this past year!
Phew. That’s probably enough for now. I’m going to hit my word limit and there’s still stuff to talk about.
Beer of the Week No 1
I’ve yet to sample the top beers from the Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge, but I’ve had a few — and from what I’ve sampled so far, the winner, Liberty God of War, must be spectacular because everything else has been primo: including Hop Federation Binecraft.
The aroma on this one is chart-topping. It absolutely explodes with raucous levels of pine, cat pee and ripe lemon. Citra and Cascade do the heavy olfactory lifting but on the palate the use of Nectaron hops really comes to the fore with big juicy fruit characters sliding in under the pine-dank-citrus layer. Speaking of layers, there’s a bit of haze to this one (unfiltered?), but you can forgive that. It’s an awesome hop combination and typical of a few exciting beers I’ve tried recently that pair NZ hops such as Nectaron and Superdelic with classic West Coast IPA-style US hops like Citra, Simcoe and Cascade. Who needs Mosaic when you’ve got this combo.
And by the way, Hop Federation won the Packaging Trophy at the NZ Beer Awards and it’s easy to see why, the hop iconography on their beers is clear and concise but allows for plenty of cool iterations.
Breweries lobbying for level playing field
A group of New Zealand breweries, in step with the Brewers Guild, are meeting with Trade Minister Todd McClay in coming days to make their case about closing a legal hole in the Closer Economic Relations treaty with Australia.
Under CER, New Zealand breweries exporting to Australia are legally entitled to the same excise tax relief as Australian breweries, but for whatever reason it’s a law that’s never been enforced.
NZ wineries exporting to Australia have been on equal footing with their Australian rivals for years but our breweries don’t have the same rights.
The breweries meeting the minister include Garage Project, Behemoth, 8 Wired, Parrotdog, and Waitoa.
The understanding is that the NZ government accepts the breweries have the right to excise relief but the main task is convincing their Australian counterparts to run with it at a time when the beer industry across the ditch is struggling hard.
Australian breweries don’t pay excise on the first 150,000 litres of production, which is huge for small breweries. Based on an average beer ABV of 5% this works out at roughly $350,000 a year.
If New Zealand breweries exporting to Australia had the same treatment it would mean, as Jos Ruffell from Garage Project said, a “level playing field”.
“We’re sympathetic to the tough beer market over there, but it’s a clear breach of the CER agreement. New Zealand wineries got access to this years ago but New Zealand breweries don’t have it.”
Ruffell says the New Zealand officials “understand and agree” with the breweries but their job now is to convince their “counterparts” in Australia.
Ruffell said an even better result would be for all breweries in New Zealand to have the same rules as Australia does.
If the first 150,000 litres were excise-free in New Zealand it would allow small, independent breweries to flourish by putting a sizeable chunk of cash back in their hands. And it would barely impact the big breweries. For giants like Lion and DB, 150,000 litres represents small change.
Ruffell said the level of relief given to breweries in Australia shows an understanding that small, independent operators “bring a lot to the table in terms of employment, tourism and hospitality”.
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
Sultana is a 6.7% Red IPA from the Beers Beers Beers crew outta Christchurch. Sultana, hop-wise, is a great choice for a red; imparting plenty of lemon-orangey citrus vibes and taste-wise it continues in the same vein with additional ripe pineapple, subtle spicing with a prickly carb, all this sitting atop a rich toffee caramel backbone! The Garden City locals have nailed this one!
(Editors note: Hard agree on this one. Had it last night. Loved it. Great beer.)
Breweries starring in Toastie Takeover battle
Speaking of Beers. They are one of three breweries showcasing their culinary skills in the Great NZ Toastie Takeover.
Beers are among the 14 finalists alongside Lakeman Brewing via their taproom Jimmy Coops, and Brew Union in Palmerston North.
Churly’s in Auckland, Shining Peak in Taranaki, Sprig & Fern (Tahuna) and Christchurch’s Moon Under Water didn’t make the cut but were lauded as highly commended.
The Jimmy Coops offering is Lakeman Farms low-and-slow house smoked beef pastrami and short rib, grilled pineapple, melted provolone, McClure’s Sweet & Spicy Pickles, Lakeman Stout BBQ sauce and beer mustard relish in a wood-fired panini, all topped with a deep fried McClure’s Dill Pickle Spear.
Brew Union have created a toastie with smoked chicken and McClure’s Pickles smothered with a beer and cheddar cheese sauce (made with the brewery’s Ripper NZ Pale Ale), folded through with spring onions and crispy crumbled pancetta, and all sandwiched between two slices of BABCO’s locally baked sourdough bread, served with a house-made caramelised onion mayo on the side.
Beers is offering lamb pastrami, McClure’s Pickles, three cheese blend, and mushrooms, topped with a bacon stuffed mussel and pickle gel on Bacon Bros bread.
You have until Wednesday August 21 to taste these delights as that’s when the country’s top toasted sandwich will be revealed.
Beer of the Week No 2
This seems like a great beer to recommend ahead of the All Blacks’ first Rugby Championship tomorrow — or perhaps with which to toast the various black-clad athletes in Paris.
Gisborne Black Milk Stout comes in a favourably priced six-pack, sitting at sub-$20 and you’ll be hard-pressed to get a better flavour offering at this kind of value.
This beer should be a fridge filler over the rest of winter as it’s been a long time since I’ve sampled such a great depth of flavour in a beer that weighs in at just 4.5% ABV.
Stunning aromas of cold brew coffee stay strong throughout and are coupled with intense milk chocolate and vanilla. Those creamy flavours push right to end, where there’s just a hint of acidity to brighten and tighten things up.
This is one of the best milk stouts on the market right now and delivers superior winter drinking at a great price point and ABV.
And like most beers mentioned here every week, you can find this in select New Worlds, your home of craft beer.
Beer giant steps into building
San Miguel, the giant Philippines brewery, is moving beyond beer and is expanding into a massive infrastructure builder.
The company is building roads, an airport and a gas plant as billionaire chairman Ramon Ang, the company’s single largest shareholder, seeks to leave a legacy beyond beer, Forbes reported.
For Ang, 70, the pivot is a chance to cement his legacy—reengineering the food and beverage giant into an infrastructure colossus that is literally remaking the Philippines from the bedrock up. Over the next five years, Ang has earmarked capital expenditure of 1.4 trillion pesos, of which 86%, or 1.2 trillion pesos, will be deployed to expand the company’s infrastructure footprint.
The overarching goal behind this massive outlay—in a country where infrastructure gaps remain a big challenge, as per the Asian Development Bank—is to boost economic growth in the Philippines, he says, by making it a more attractive destination for overseas investors and tourists. That, in turn, will lift consumer spending, boosting San Miguel’s legacy food and beverages business. “When our economy is strong,” Ang says, “when more Filipinos are prosperous, all our businesses benefit.”
Billionaire Ramon Ang Rebuilds The Philippines' Airports And Roads (forbes.com)
Tim’s Beer of the Week
Over the next wee bit I’ll be exploring the trophy winners from the recent NZ Beer Awards, starting with this The G.O.A.T Doppelbock (7.9%) from the Nelson brewing legends Sprig + Fern. As the name implies, this is a beer with a long history of awards, including a spot on the New World Top 30 earlier this year.
The broad and decadently malty aroma ranges from sweet caramel to toasted grain, with some roasty coffee and just a hint of hop freshness. The palate is similarly malt-driven, rich and chewy with a very long finish that perfectly intertwines malt sweetness with a satisfyingly full bitterness. Malt-driven beer at its very best. — Tim Newman
Athletic Brewing teams up with Arsenal
The US non-alc giant Athletic Brewing has scored a partnership with English football legends Arsenal, becoming the team’s first official nonalcoholic beer partner.
Arsenal will feature Athletic Brewing’s Run Wild IPA at Emirates Stadium for both men’s and women’s matches in the coming season, and Athletic Brewing will launch a marketing campaign and a series of promotions in return.
The deal represents an opportunity for America’s largest nonalcoholic brewery to expand in the UK.
“Our international footprint is expanding, and alcohol moderation is sweeping the globe, specifically among the next generation of consumers,” Bill Shufelt, co-founder and CEO of Athletic, said in a press release. “This partnership represents an exciting milestone in our journey to revolutionize the way the world drinks.”
Sales of no- and low-alcoholic beer are rising in the UK, surging 38% on match days this summer, and there are similar trends in the US with off-premise sales of nonalcoholic beer up nearly 30% year to date, according to the release.
Arsenal is the latest sports entity to embrace nonalcoholic beer. Guinness 0.0 is the official nonalcoholic beer partner of the Premier League, and Formula 1 promotes Heineken 0.0.
Beer of the Week No 3
Silverdale’s Laughing Bones continue to push the envelope in the Mountain IPA category — and I’m starting to take a shine to these hybrid beers.
Snowcap is the 15th in the series and this one is brewed with Wai-iti and Falconer’s Flight, which — in a small piece of trivia (if memory serves me well) — were the two hops Baylands used when they created their first Waifly fresh hop release more than a decade ago! Though Falconer’s Flight is a blend of C-hops rather than a hop in its own right, but you know what I mean.
Anyway, it’s a combination that’s obviously stood the test of time because it works well here, with a yin-yang of juicy lushness and sharper citrus playing a tug of war on your palate. Drinks quite light for a hazy, which is also nice, but dispenses flavour in big dollops.
Beer saving the planet
In a nod to Sawmill’s Sustainability Award, I’ll leave you with this rather delightful story focused on Young Henry’s in Sydney, where they use algae to capture CO2 and then how they then add the algae to spent grain (known as algae-dosing) to feed to cows which somehow decreases their methane production!
An Idiot’s Guide To The Circular Economy Explained Through Beer — Monster Children
Thanks for coming along for the ride and catch you next week.
Michael