Hop Federation win label design award
Second packaging win for Motueka brewery. Mount Brewing's brilliant new trial hop pack — one for hop-heads. Time running out for Three Sisters. NZ's best beer gardens. Inside a big-budget beer launch
Happy Friday Beer Lovers!
We start this week with a big congrats to Hop Federation for winning the annual GABS label design award with Hold The Line NZIPA.
The winning entry, designed by Evan Matthews, showed a New Zealand bush scene through the lens of Hop Federation’s hop logo.
It’s the second big brand win for the Motueka-based brewery after they took out trophy for packaging at the New Zealand Beer Awards.
Personally, I think Hop Federation’s use of the hop icon is one of the strongest branding offerings in the business right now. You know immediately what the brand is and what it represents. More importantly, the beer inside is pretty damn good as well!
Second and third place in the label design award went to two of the most consistent, prolific and gifted designers in the business: Hannah Blackwood at Heyday and Mikaela Turner at Canyon.
Hop Federation said their entry was about the “idea of escapism”.
“The audience literally must view the beer through the icon of the hop. The connection to the New Zealand bush pays homage to the very essence of being present to the land and the gifts it provides. Hold the Line is just this — a moment of reflection.”
You can view all the entries in the GABS Digital Gallery. The judges assessed the entries across six categories — visual & aesthetic appeal, creativity & originality, impact, brand identity, usability & messaging and design brief.
And the winner is …
Thanks for everyone who voted in last week’s poll for your favourite Double IPA. The results are in and the winner, by a whisker, is Epic’s Hop Zombie — the original and, it seems, still the best Double IPA in New Zealand.
Beer of the week No 1
In fact, this could be my Beer of the Week Nos 1, 2, 3 & 4.
In one of the more ambitious offerings I’ve seen in a while, Mount Brewing have released a four-pack of 440ml single-hopped IPAs showcasing four trial hops that are part of the New Zealand Hops Ltd Bract Brewing Programme.
We’ve seen lots of these trial hops used in various beers — from Pilsners, to Pale Ales and IPAs — but this is the first time a brewery has put a bunch of them together in a mixed-four pack.
Each 6% beer is brewed the same way apart from the use of the different trial hops — NZH-104, 105, 109 and 112. And each hop is used as a single hop so you can assess each on its merits.
It’s a bold play and one for beer geeks and hop-heads.
It was hard for me to pick a “favourite” but maybe because it was my first time trying NZH-112 I was blown away by this beer.
It was juicy and rich with an almost lollipop quality to the sticky, fruity sweetness. Some tangy citrus leads to a dry finish and a very moreish beer.
These beers are being released in kegs across the country from today (see list below from Mount Brewing’s Instagram)
These will be in New World stores North Island-wide from October 7.
Three days for Three Sisters to find $70K
New Plymouth’s Three Sisters are close to their minimum target of $500,000 in their latest equity raise but they are also $70,000 short with only three days to go.
I reckon they’ll get there, one way or another, but it’s going to be a tight-run thing.
Best beer gardens in NZ
Regular Pursuit of Hoppiness contributor and travel writer extraordinaire Brett Atkinson has summer sorted with an article in the NZ Herald this week on New Zealand’s best beer gardens.
I can’t argue with any on his list, but I reckon there are a few more out there, such as Godzone in Hawkes Bay. Hit me up with your suggestions.
New Zealand’s best craft brewery beer gardens - NZ Herald
Beer of the Week No 2
Reading the list reminded that I had a fantastic beer from Bootleg Brewing recently. The Hamilton crew make some damn fine Belgian beers, notably their Late Night Monk Fight.
This was a super-tidy beer: banana and honey upfront followed by a dry spiciness for a lovely sweet-dry ride. Very good.
The Kiwi singer at centre of British colour bar
I recently spent some time trying to help British writer David Jesudason find some information on a Samoa-born New Zealand singer called Alex Samos, who famously took a London club to court after it barred him for being non-white.
David is a great researcher and this is a good in-depth look at a forgettable part of British life.
Tim’s Beer of the Week
I am not a boomer… but that doesn’t mean I can’t have ‘this thing used to be better when…’ opinions, and back in the day IPA was big, it was bright, it was bitter, and dammit it was better. Enter Taupo’s Lakeman Brewing with this 8.5% slammer, to placate my outmoded tastes.
OK Boomer presents a beguiling floral aroma, with violet and daphne amongst the otherwise tropical and gooseberry notes. While the palate has heft for sure, there isn’t nearly as much weight as one might expect for the huge ABV, and as much as I’ve been on about bitterness, it’s actually quite moderate here, all of which comes together to produce a remarkably deft and delicate example of a double IPA. Much like sitting an actual boomer in front of the History Channel, put me in front of a pint like this and I’ll retreat into my own world of comfortable nostalgia. — Tim Newman
Speaking of old school hoppiness
There’s a strong accent on hops so far in this week’s missive, and that reminded of this story I saw on Bloomberg recently charting (very quickly) the history of hops in both Europe and America.
What could have been “once over lightly” is a clearly-explained, well-defined precis of the modern hop evolution. It’s a very good Hops 101.
What Are Hops? Beer's Most Essential Ingredient, a Brief History and Guide - Bloomberg
Dusty’s Beer of the Week
Built for pitmasters, built for spring, built for wild West Coast beach days, Christchurch locals Beers Beers Beers 4.77% Yuzu Lager is a go-to drop for pretty much anything. Hopped with Lemondrop and packin’ a hefty slap of real yuzu, this brewty is refreshing, tart, crispy, lemony with a zesty clean bitterness before a drying finish. One crispy crusha! Would be a great sixer for the impending warmer months. — Dusty
Beers of the year Part 3
It’s the end of the third quarter of 2024 so that means it’s time for the most memorable beers of the past 13 weeks.
I’m using Dusty’s fantastic pic of my top beer because he’s captured the colour of this beer far better than I could, and that’s because he’s a pro!
Canyon Brewing To Central With Love — I love this wild ride of a beer. Locally grown malt and hops, rested on pinot noir grape skins, turning the beer a vibrant red. Fermented on yeast from wild thyme flowers. Tastes like Ribena/pinot noir.
Hop Federation Binecraft — My favourite out of The Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge. Aromatic bomb.
McLeod’s Harvest Moon — I think next winter I will order a case of these. Longboarder for summer, Harvest Moon for the shorter days. Perfect Dark IPA.
Garage Project British Steel — The mid-year Mild revival was a blessing and this was the best of them, I thought.
Wilderness Wielrijder — Smashing Belgian Blond with a twist of lemon from a brewery that nails these kind of beers with aplomb.
Bach Bungy Smuggler — I don’t drink a lot of hazies but this excellent execution of the New Zealand style was right up there.
Mount Brewing Shades of the Pacific — A beer that delivers on all its parts — vanilla, coconut, chocolate, orange — and yet also transcends all those flavours.
Three Sisters Roses & Rivets — An imperial red, rye ale with so much depth and layering of flavour.
Good George Virtual Reality — Been my go-to non-alcoholic beer lately. Very good flavour profile.
Heyday North American Lager — For some reason this didn’t pop up in weekly dispatches; not sure why. I loved this because it tasted like the beer of my youth, circa 1984.
Eddyline Crank Yanker — A fabulous old school IPA that stays true while the beer world spins. Malty, hoppy, chunky flavour.
Parrotdog Falcon — There are a lot of great APAs on the market in New Zealand but this one gets me every time.
Beers Sultana — In a winter of superb red IPAs, this one was memorably dank and rich.
Inside a big budget beer launch
I’ll leave you with this story from Australia about the launch of a new beer, Long Run, a premium version of CUB’s popular Great Northern.
It’s a nice, non-sucky piece with a killer closing paragraph.
Gymfluencers in the Outback: The Big-Budget Beer Launch of 2024 (broadsheet.com.au)
Catch you next week on the other side of daylight savings time.
Michael