Good Friday Special: Best Beers of 2023 so far
Easter edition — 13 beers for the first quarter of 2023.
I know, I said last week that I wasn’t going to write a newsletter on Good Friday, with everyone being on holiday. But then an idea came to me … every year I promise to keep a beer diary so that when I get to the end of the year I have everything good recorded in one place and I don’t have to wrack my tired December brain trying to find the highlights for the inevitable end-of-year column.
So, as much for myself as for you, dear reader, this subscriber-only special is a quick dash through the best beers I’ve tried this year. Call it the Best Beers of the First Quarter. They are in some kind of order, indicating how impressed I was by each.
Urbanaut Rose Bay Lager. Apparently so simple at first glance, but delivers such pure, clean flavour as to be scarcely believable for a 2.5% lager.
Garage Project Tiny Anytime XPA. I thought the non-alc “brew natural” craft style had reached its peak with hazy variants but this eats the rest for lunch.
McLeod’s Longboarder. A classic. That’s all. Should be mandatory summer drinking.
Pacific Coast Wairua / Tapawera Pils. The first beer out of new brewery Pacific Coast was brewed for Hop Revolution to showcase their hops and named for their two farms. A few cans made it to commercial release. If you found one consider yourself blessed.
Three Boys Wheat. One of the most under-rated beers in New Zealand IMHO. Loads of depth in the flavour department, both satisfyingly complex and thirst-quenchingly simple.
Small Gods “Chaos” Brett Pilsner. This experimental brew from the adventurous team at Small Gods hit all the right funk-filled notes: like very ripe fruit mingled with hay and a brioche sweetness to balance it out.
Derelict Lemon Meringue. This is so refreshing, yet and extremely drinkable. It’s just like the dessert it’s named for and disappears as quickly.
Lakeman 5 O’Clock Somewhere. A brewery that’s really hitting its straps right now and this is a beer that breaks the trope that all hazies taste the same. Light, bright, citrus zest.
Sawmill Hazy Riwaka. Bingo. There are not many hazies on my must-have list in any given year, but this is one of them.
8 Wired Capitola Cold IPA. I’m loving the Cold IPA trend and this is one of the best I had over the summer, edging Epic Rooster and Garage Project La La.
Badass Flagship Lager. I often judge a beer by how quickly the first one goes down and how much I want another one straight away. This was perfect at the end of a hot summer’s day.
Emerson’s Reverb NZ IPA. A complex, rippling flavour experience that includes pine & pithy grapefruit entwined with grapes and finishing with a building bitterness.
Duncan’s Passionfruit & Lime Ripple. I went nuts on Duncan’s a month or so back and raved about it in this email. At that stage I hadn’t tried this beer. It trumped the rest.
Cheers and happy Easter,
More than a couple to look out for my next beer shopping endeavour.