A bar in your supermarket
Pioneer New World in Palmerston North lives up to its name with a pioneering move — a bar in a supermarket. Superdelic hops defy global downturn. A rival for 8 Wired's Wild Feijoa Ale!
Welcome to Friday Night Beers, your weekly round-up of New Zealand beer news, views and reviews.
We start this week with an innovative move from Pioneer New World supermarket in Palmerston North, where owner Thomas Ben has installed the first of its kind in New Zealand: a craft beer bar and fillery.
The bar is not really a bar in the true sense, but you can get a taster or two and then fill a rigger to take to the checkout.
The debut kegs last week came from Boneface and Palmerston locals Brew Union, who will have a regular tap. Parrotdog are today’s guest brewery and Ben has Garage Project, Sprig & Fern, Behemoth, Sunshine, and Three Sisters all lined up for future dates.
“We invested a fair bit in trying to get the bar right,” Ben tells me.
“I was really nervous about it as it could have been a swing and a miss, you know. I said to my wife, ‘if this is a miss, at least we're going to have a fantastic bar at home’.”
The bar set-up was designed by Leslie Elliot of Evolve Design who has created bars for Speight’s Alehouses and Panhead.
The bar certainly stunned a few shoppers.
“There’s a few people who stopped and had a look that said: ‘there's a bar in my supermarket?'.”
And Acky Aspros from Boneface, pictured above filling a rigger, was impressed:
“I definitely see it as another opportunity to promote craft in a grocery liquor department.
“Having an actual bar set up as a tasting station is a unique and creative way to build excitement around craft beer. The fact we had customers come in specifically to taste our beers and walk away with full riggers shows what value it has to breweries, the customer and store.”
There was a lot of work getting the concept approved by parent company Foodstuffs.
"Yeah, there was a lot of compliance, a lot of rules to meet,” Ben said. “But we just worked our way through them and just made sure everything was right as there's always nervousness around alcohol, and being responsible hosts.
“But the whole thing is not about volume. There are only small tasters, around 50-60ml, and limits on riggers per customer.”
Ben said Palmerston North’s relative lack of craft breweries meant there was a gap in the market.
“Brew Union's awesome, but there's a whole lot of microbreweries around the country that make great beer that people just don’t get access to.
“So, if they can ship us a keg — and we've made it easy for them to do that — and we get the brewers here to talk it up, I’m hoping it’ll grow.”
For now, it’s one-night per week offering, on Fridays, but could grow to twice a week if the response is positive.
Filling a rigger at retail liquor stores is nothing new but a supermarket, with a bar, is next level for New Zealand. Plus, it’s totally independent.
“We intentionally just wanted to go completely independent so that any of the small breweries could just say, yeah, let’s put a few taps on.
“It gives people that chance to try craft beer, see if they like it, and if they like it, they can buy a rigger to take home.”
Ben wasn’t sure other supermarkets would follow suit.
“I think they're just watching with bated breath. I think everyone's just going: ‘I can't believe he's done it’. But that's the great thing about being an individual owner and being part of a co-op. We have that structure around the distribution centre and admin stuff, but at the end of the day, it’s still us as individual operators trying to do the best for our catchment and our customers.
“I'm hoping that the people of Palmy will just enjoy being able to get some great craft beer.”
Morningcider hit crowd-funding target
Breaking news: Auckland cidermakers Morningcider have hit their crowd-funding target with PledgeMe. The raise was a slow-burner, with the campaign extended by 10 days after it initially fell short.
Just before I pushed publish on this post, they were at: $509,751.
The campaign closes at 7pm tonight if you’re interested in joining in.
Beer of the Week No 1
Well, I was in celebratory mode recently after we put down a deposit on a new home in … New Plymouth!
We move in late-May, but to mark the occasion I decided to open a special bottle from a soon-to-be local brewery: Shining Peak.
And what a treat this was:
8 Wired’s annual Wild Feijoa Sour Ale has been a benchmark for beers made with one of our favourite autumn fruits, and I’m not being flippant when I say this gives the OG a run for its money.
A mix of 12- and 24-month-old mixed ferment ale is further aged in oak barrels while resting on feijoas from Oakura Farms before being bottle-conditioned with brettanomyces yeast.
That description doesn’t get close to expressing the continuously evolving complexity of this beer. It’s certainly tart and has luscious amounts of feijoa but there’s layers of vanilla, some savoury character and good palate weight.
One of the best of the year for me, without a doubt — even if I fought a long battle with the wax seal!
Superdelic defies global downturn
Superdelic — the most recent commercial hop variety released by NZ Hops Ltd — is proving a winner, defying the global downturn in hop demand with the 2025 harvest completely sold out.
Superdelic was released in 2023, and in its third full-season there was three times as much grown as last year — and it was all sold before harvest. And this is despite NZ Hops Ltd having to reduce its overall crop by 25% to match global demand.
“A clear highlight of the season was the continued rise of Superdelic,” said NZ Hops Ltd in their annual harvest report released this week.
“With an expanded planting footprint in 2025 and the entire crop selling out before harvest, it’s clear that Superdelic is cementing its status as one of our most exciting commercial offerings. Production volume has tripled from 2024 to 2025, reflecting surging demand, and additional plantings are already underway to meet projected 2026 needs.”
NZ Hops nominated three varieties as stand-outs based on sensory analysis:
“The top three standout varieties in terms of hop aroma this season were Motueka, Superdelic and Wai-iti which scored an equal number of `Wow’ ratings in the NZ Hops Ltd internal sensory assessments
“Motueka delivered a bright and refreshing citrus-forward aroma, led by vibrant lime and classic mojito lime character. In the background, subtle herbal notes evoke green tea and bergamot vibes, bringing a smooth, balanced complexity to this year’s crop.
“Superdelic delivered a perfumed aroma profile, led by bold candy-like sweetness reminiscent of gumdrops and fruit lollies. Juicy berry notes of blueberry were evident and underpinning the fruitiness is a bright layer of woody citrus, adding structure and depth. The result is a uniquely expressive hop with a nostalgic candy-shop charm.
“Wai-iti, which is not always the first choice for brewer selections surprised quite a few customers with a complex bouquet of fresh lemon grass, grapefruit and subtle sweet tea notes delivering a very fresh hop profile which impressed on the selection tables.”
Beer of the Week No 2
I reckon if you live in Auckland, get along this weekend to Twofold and try the fresh hop iteration of their Tuesday Pils.
I thought last week’s trio of beers were in the running for the best fresh hops of the season, and this beauty not only joined the race, it’s broken out of the pack.
(And I think Untappd agrees with me. I’ve done a quick but not complete trawl of Untappd to try to find the top-rating fresh hop beers of 2025 and so far it tells me:
4.26 Twofold Fresh Hop Tuesday Pils (Nelson Sauvin)
4.24 Double Vision Noisy Crickets Triple Hazy IPA (Riwaka, Nelson Sauvin)
4.22 Altitude x One Drop Fresh Tracks Pale Ale (Motueka from Garston, Riwaka from Nelson)
4.19 McLeod’s Forty Acre IPA (Nelson Sauvin)
4.17 Parrotdog NZH-109 Hazy IPA (NZH-109) & Brave Brewing Helping Hands IPA (Riwaka)
If I’ve missed someone let me know!)
Anyway, Tuesday Pils — a West Coast-style Pilsner — ticks all the boxes: dank, oily, grassy, fruity (grapes and blueberries) but clean and dry. So good I went back for more on Saturday night as part of the Fresh Hop, Skip and Jump event put on by Twofold, The Lumsden, Galbraith’s and Small Gods.
Only this time I had the party keg version and it was, impossibly, better!
As an aside, Twofold are celebrating their first birthday tomorrow by giving away 50 Burgers to the first 50 customers through the door from noon. There’s also complimentary candy floss and a lineup of DJs til 9pm.
And speaking of Auckland, the Auckland Beer Mile is hosting a fresh hop event this weekend.
On that route you’ll find Brothers Beer, who have done a fresh hop homage to Steinlager, called Steingrenade, and it’s got some of the best art I’ve seen on a can for a while!
The return of the Beer Diary
As much as I’d hate to divert you away from my own little corner of news and views, I have no choice but to direct you to the re-rebooted Beer Diary by Phil Cook.
Although, Phil dances to a different keyboard beat, so I reckon his blogging platform is complementary to this one.
Phil, famous in Wellington’s beer scene for many years, and lately of Melbourne, is now in Washington DC, which seems to agree with his creative side as the Beer Diary has been pumping lately.
Phil’s whimsy, wit, and razor-sharp critiques combined with an ability to data-fy anything has seen him cover issues as varied as:
how many times beer is referenced in mainstream crossword clues
an incisive critique of the “indie” movement
Tim’s Beer of the Week
While fresh hop season is far from over, this week has provided something of a breather from the onslaught of new releases. The perfect time to relax with a good, old-fashioned NZIPA from Altitude Brewing (Queenstown), brewed with perfectly normal processed hops.
Classic aromas of pine and grapefruit mesh with passionfruit pungency and an abundance of green, nostril-coating dankness. Exceptionally clean and balanced with a robust malt backbone, commanding bitterness, and a huge display of New Zealand hop energy in between. One of the best NZIPAs I’ve tried this year, fresh-hopped examples included. — Tim Newman
Brew of Islands festival returns
If you fancy a mid-winter getaway to the winterless North, the Brew of Islands festival is back for 2025.
The festival is set for June 28 in Kerikeri with Northland breweries Kainui Brew Co, McLeod’s, and Phat House joined by Garage Project, Urbanaut, Parrotdog, 8 Wired and Double Vision.
American pitmaster Mat Fulton of Wingless Angel, leads the extensive food offering with his authentic low’n’slow BBQ.
There’s heaps of music, DJs and street entertainment.
Tickets are on sale now via The Turner Center (in person) and iTicket
More information: www.brewofislands.co.nz
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
It was worth the wait! Parrotdog NZH-109 Fresh Hop Hazy is not only one of the best fresh hops this year but one of the best hazies imo. It’s aromatic, weedy off the tear with prominent peach melon followed by pops of citrus. The danky resiny attributes are offset by a lush creamy mouthfeel...banga of a brew. Hoppy Friday all! — Dusty
Hop professor on RNZ
Radio NZ had a short but informative chat with visiting American hop guru Tom Shellhammer this week that covered lots of beer territory, including how APA as a “style” is very much a New Zealand thing, and how to make (or not) beer from chestnuts!
Beer(s) of the Week No 3
First, I’d just like to note that it’s simply not possible to keep up with the fresh hop gems released this season … the collective force is too much, and I reckon I’d be here til July trying to do them one at a time!
So forgive me for doing three in one hit!
Everything you’ve heard and read about Eddyline Hoptimus Prime West Coast IPA is correct. This is a smashing drop. Lush, dank, catty, piney, bitter. One of the best of the season.
Hallertau’s fresh hop New English Bitter brewed with hops they’ve grown themselves is a sublime. Serving suggestion, a little warmer than fridge temperature gets the best of out it. Loved it.
Tim Newman raved to me about Volstead’s Riwaka fresh hop pale ale. He was spot on. I don’t say this lightly: it’s one of the best Riwaka-hopped beers I’ve had this season.
Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine continues its tour of New Zealand during the hop harvest season with the latest episode featuring Brayden Rawlinson from Fork & Brewer in Wellington. This is definitely one for brewing geeks, and lovers of grape-grain hybrid brews!
That’s me for another week … I’ll be back again next Friday.
Michael
Hy-Vee has a great bar in the store makes me wanna shop. Or at least go to the store