Beer & Cider Report

Autumn FLAVOURS

The heady aromas of the hop harvest are here in the latest fresh hop releases and new brews and ciders for autumn…

Note: Beers and ciders are listed in order of % ABV.

BEER

Mikkeller Drink’in the Sun

0.3% ABV, 330ml RRP $5.45

Long Breeze Distributors

Danish beer brand Mikkeller was started by a maths and physics teacher who started homebrewing in his Copenhagen kitchen and today exports his beers to more than 50 countries, now including New Zealand, through distributor Long Breeze. Mikkeller collaborates with breweries around the world and this American-style wheat ale is brewed in Belgium and is bright and full of hop flavour.

Mikkeller Limbo Series Raspberry

0.3% ABV, 330ml RRP $5.45

Long Breeze Distributors

This is a Flemish Primitive, which refers to the famous wild yeast that lends its unique flavour to this low-alc beer. It is brewed at Belgium’s Proef Brewery, and the yeast gives a fruity, complex and distinctly Belgian farmhouse character that is offset by the lush, tart raspberries.

Mikkeller Weird Weather IPA

0.3% ABV, 330ml RRP $5.45

Long Breeze Distributors

Another welcome addition to the low-alc/ no-alc category, this 0.3% ABV beer from Danish brewery Mikkeller is a floral, bitter New England-style IPA with a full body and grassy notes of pine.

Sawmill Raspberry + Lime Sour

4.5% ABV, 440ml RRP $8.99

Sawmill Brewery

Pouring a pretty pink in the glass, Sawmill’s Raspberry + Lime Sour has an edge of tartness. The raspberry and hibiscus sour beautifully and the lime gives an extra hint of sharpness that keeps you going back to the glass. An excellent afternoon beer for those late summer weekends.

QBrew Albino Lager

4.7% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $23

QBrew

This is one of the first beers in the debut range from new brewery QBrew, just outside Whangarei. Named for the white (‘albino’) rhino, this pale lager is malty with a hint of citrus and good bitterness towards the finish.

Gubernija Wheat

4.8% ABV, 568ml RRP $3.99

Q Liquid

Lithuanian brewery Gubernija have a perfectly balanced wheat beer here, with aromas of fruit and cloves in harmony with the sour taste of real wheat beer. Pouring light and straw-like in the glass, it has a hazy tint to it. The taste is fruity and flowery, with a hint of spice and a light sourness and bitterness.

Moa Motueka Hazy IPA

4.9% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $13.99

Moa Brewing

Moa Brewing has teamed up with New Zealand’s largest hop grower, familyowned and -operated Clayton Hops to create this new addition to Moa’s Classic Range. The new Hazy IPA uses Clayton’s world-famous Motueka hops, as well as Wai-iti – courtesy of Moa’s partnership with Craig Orr of NZ Hops. Moa Motueka Hazy IPA has a fresh aroma and a juicy tropical flavour with citrus notes.

Stangen Weiss Bier

4.9% ABV, 500ml RRP $3.50

Go Green Beverages

A naturally cloudy wheat beer with a fruity aroma, low hop bitterness and an intense and complex flavour. As is typical of unfiltered beers, the mild, sweet yeast flavour is preserved alongside the beer’s cloudiness.

Bach Brewing Brut Ultra Low Carb IPA

5% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $24.99

Bach Brewing

A kite-surfing cool dude graces the can of this drop from Bach Brewing. The lightness in his sails is mirrored in the lightness of the drop. This low carb ale is still packed with a hoppy crispness, but lands light as a feather.

Bach Brewing Judder Beer

5% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $24.99

Bach Brewing

Just as judder bars make you slow down and take it easy, so Bach Brewing’s Judder Beer is a slower, gentler take on their hoppy IPAs. It’s a delicious drop that comes out of the characterful can as a crisp, hoppy IPA. Easy drinking, this beer is still a very reasonable 5%.

Epic Haze Fever Fresh Hop Hazy IPA

5% ABV, 440ml RRP $8.99

Epic

Hazies and hops have flooded the craft brewing world and Epic are riding the wave. Don’t worry about the scary scarecrow on the can – he’s only guarding the aromatic fresh hop treasure within. Fresh from Eggers Hop Farm in Nelson, Riwaka hops were picked, packed, flown to Auckland and added to the tank within eight hours. The result is a furiously fresh, hop-driven hazy that goes down beautifully.

Gubernija Unfiltered

5% ABV, 568ml RRP $3.99

Q Liquid

This unfiltered beer from Lithuania is a nicely balanced drop for those who appreciate a bit of natural cloudiness. It uses both Pilsner and Munich barley malts and the aromatic Saphir hop. In the glass it’s a hazy, straw-coloured drop with a malty bread sweetness, low bitterness and a peppery herbal taste.

Panhead Knuckle Draggers

5% ABV, 330ml RRP $4.99

Lion

This new release from Panhead is an innovative take on a Mexican lager using agave, which is better known as the key ingredient in tequila and mezcal. The addition of maize and the agave make the beer super light in colour and provide a crisp, dry body. Kiwi hops and manuka-smoked malt add a smoky honey character with a refreshing touch of lime, reminiscent of a good mezcal.

Sunshine Brewing Fresh Hop Pale Ale

5% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

Vintners

Sunshine’s Fresh Hop Pale Ale is the brewery’s annual fresh hop release and an ode to its East Coast home. It harnesses the essence of Gisborne with locallygrown Taiheke hops that the crew picked themselves. The result is a hoppy ale packed with flavour and freshness.

Sunshine Brewing Stout

5% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $19.99

Vintners

Sunshine’s Stout is a dark and devious drop tailor-made for the colder months. A smooth, velvety blend of chocolate, coffee and vanilla with roasted malt. Rich but balanced, this is a perfect after-dinner beer as it’s a chocolate and coffee course in a glass.

Emporium FeijoFlower Golden Sour

5.2% ABV, 375ml RRP $13

Emporium Brewing

A golden sour aged in Pinot Noir barrels with feijoas, elderflower and a touch of elderberries, which give it a blush rose colour. Aromatics of light bretty funk with the fruitiness of feijoa riding underneath, all on a lovely assertive acidity.

Stangen Lager

5.4% ABV, 500ml RRP $3.50

Go Green Beverages

A golden, full-bodied lager with a strong flavour and moderate bitterness from German brewery Stangen, which produces a variety of traditional German beers.

8-Wired Kōhia Wit

5.5% ABV, 440ml RRP $7.99

8-Wired

This experimental take on a traditional Belgian witbier uses New Zealand kōhia, a native passionfruit vine. Paired with New Zealand hops, the result is a tropical take on the typical pilsner and wheat base, with a nice citrus kick. An interesting drop that may take a bit of education but is well worth the lesson.

Boneface Lithium American Pilsner

5.5% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $22.99

Boneface Brewing

Lithium in this case refers to the battery (not the medication) and there’s a scary goat-looking character on the can, just daring you to get involved with this lager. Styled as an American pilsner, it has the light crispness with the late addition of hops providing juicy flavours of citrus, pineapple and stone fruit.

Garage Project Epuni Street Bitter

5.5% ABV, 440ml RRP $8 – available 17 May

Garage Project

An old-school ESB from the crew at Garage Project. This traditional English Bitter is full of mouthwateringly juicy bitterness balanced with big, chewy biscuit and toffee malt character and finished with lifted orange citrus and a floral hop aroma.

Sunshine Brewing Blueberry Sour

5.5% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

Vintners

This blue beauty by the team at Sunshine was inspired by Violet Beauregarde of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory fame. Made with fresh berries from Hauiti on the East Coast, Sunshine have taken a dry Berliner Weisse and blended it with Tongan vanilla to top it all off. Beautifully sour and fruity, this is one for sour lovers looking for something new and interesting.

Sunshine Brewing’s Blueberry Sour was inspired by Violet Beauregarde of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory fame and is made with fresh blueberries from Hauiti on the East Coast.

Badass Beverages Hefe Metal

5.6% ABV, 440ml RRP $8.99

Badass Beverages

Hefe Metal is a clever play on mixing heavy metal and a very well-made German-style hefeweizen beer. Brewed with malted wheat, it has the classic wheat flavours of banana and spice. The 440ml can is a big silver winner complete with lightning strikes that wouldn’t be out of place on a Def Leppard album cover.

Sawmill Chocolate Stout

5.6% ABV, 500ml RRP $10.99

Sawmill Brewery

This dark beauty is a chocolatey treat that will delight stout lovers. Brewed with organic fair trade cacao nibs for a smooth chocolate hit and oats for velvety texture, it has almost a chocolate milk character to it. Serve after dinner in front of a roaring fire, or put some aside for an apres-ski tipple for the coming season.

QBrew Phantom IPA

5.7% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $23

QBrew

Another offering from new Northland brewery QBrew, this beer was one of their first projects and is named for the mysterious jet black cat that would prowl the brewery. Phantom has chewy caramel aromas, which continue on the palate along with notes of citrus, passionfruit, pine and spice.

Good George Cold IPA

5.8% ABV, 946ml RRP $15.99

Good George

This new Cold IPA from Hamilton brewers Good George uses light pilsner malt for a lager-like body with a bright lager yeast giving a crisp, clean and dry base that provides a perfect foundation for big hop character. It delivers a strong punch of fruity hop aromas and a resinous hop bitterness, but finishes crisp and clean.

Gubernija Brown Ale

5.9% ABV, 568ml RRP $3.99

Q Liquid

Here’s an Eastern European dark beer that is full of taste and aroma. Pouring a rich dark brown in the glass, this Lithuanian beer has delicate aromas of fruit and mild honey. The barley malt, wheat malt and hops combine for a rich malty sweetness, light bitterness, and hints of coffee.

8-Wired Ventura West Coast IPA

6% ABV, 330ml 6-pack RRP $25.99

8-Wired

Ventura is a bold, hoppy IPA, packed with fruity flavours from start to finish. Pale and gold, this West Coast IPA shines with bold, colourful beams of malt that shimmer off big waves of Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus and Mosaic hops.

Emporium Green Freshies

5.9% ABV, 330ml RRP $6 – also in keg

Emporium Brewing

A New Zealand-hopped XPA with a Nelson Sauvin fresh hop “dry hop” – brewer Paul Finney describes it as “Dank and oily!” It has lots of heavy aromatics of diesel, cut grass and a hint of garlic with mouth-coating oils. Emporium gets you as close to the hop harvest as they possibly can with this beer.

Garage Project Any Colour As Long As It’s Scrumptious

6% ABV, 440ml RRP $9

Garage Project

This collaborative brew sees paint company Resene’s candy colour ‘Scrumptious’ (code V49-112-356, if you’re wondering) transformed into a beer. The result is a kettle soured beer saturated with dragonfruit and pineapple to create a sour candy drop that tastes just like its colourful namesake.

Gubernija Bock

6% ABV, 568ml RRP $3.99

Q Liquid

Gubernija is the oldest company in Lithuania and they’ve been brewing since 1665. Their easy-drinking Bock has a delicate malt aroma and is full-bodied and malty with light caramel tones, a light hoppy bitterness, and a long-lasting sweet finish.

Sawmill Fresh Hop Nectaron Hazy IPA

6% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

Sawmill Brewery

Sawmill’s second fresh hop release showcases newly-planted Nectaron hops from the experienced growers at Oldham family farm, New Hoplands, southeast of Motueka. This hazy has huge, juicy tropical fruit, grape and spice notes.

Sawmill Fresh Hop Riwaka Hazy IPA

6% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

Sawmill Brewery

This fresh hop release from Sawmill showcases Riwaka hops from Clayton Hops. Sawmill have used the hops expertly to create a pale ale with big, punchy grapefruit, passionfruit and tropical aromas, all bound together with a silky haze.

Good George Fresh Squeeze Fresh Hop Hazy IPA

6.1% ABV, 946ml RRP $17.99

Good George

A juicy blend of super-fresh Nectaron hops picked straight from the vine and raced direct to the brewery. Refreshing and flavourful with bright tropical character, mid-level bitterness and a malty backdrop.

8-Wired Tour des Flandres

6.2% ABV, 500ml RRP $16.99

8-Wired

8-Wired’s Tour de Flandres is a red sour beer in the traditional style of West Flanders in Belgium. Aged for three years in oak wine barrels with wild yeast and pouring fizzy and brown in the glass, the result is a complex, spicy drop with notes of plum, prunes and red wine. An ideal alternative drop to recommend as the cooler weather settles in.

Garage Project One Day in March 2022

6.2% ABV, 440ml RRP $8.99 – available 27 April

Garage Project

This fresh-hopped, hazy, harvest IPA is a juicy blend of Nelson Sauvin and Southern Cross hops, all picked on the same day at Freestyle Hop Farm. The team at Garage Project says that half of the harvest was rushed ‘wet’ from the field to the garage and plunged straight into the beer, the other half was quickly dried and added to the fermenter. The result is a beer overflowing with green herbal notes, lush citrus, resinous pine and tropical fruit.

Like a raspberry milkshake in beer form, Liberty Raspberry Roller Milkshake Sour is a delicious drop that sour lovers will flock to.

Liberty Raspberry Roller Milkshake Sour

6.4% ABV, 440ml RRP $11.99

Liberty Brewing

Like a raspberry milkshake in beer form, this is a delicious drop from Liberty Brewing that sour lovers will flock to. The can’s artwork is a standout and depicts Lady Liberty’s arm thrust upwards holding a raspberry shake aloft – and the beer inside is just as good. There’s a beautiful interplay between the sweetness of the raspberries and the sourness that recalls sour worm lollies. The addition of lactose chills and rounds it all out, providing that “milkshake” mouthfeel. Recommended.

Bach Brewing Freebird East Coast Hazy IPA

6.5% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

Bach Brewing

Pouring pale and milky in the glass, this is a cloudy, mellow New England-style drop for craft beer drinkers looking for a chilled out time. The IPA hop characteristics are prevalent but the haze knocks the edges off and provides an easy-drinking beer that goes down very easily.

Bach Brewing Throbbing Grist West Coast IPA

6.6% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

Bach Brewing

West Coast IPAs are known for their bold hops, high bitterness and citrus/ pine notes. Throbbing Grist from Bach Brewing is right at home in this space and loaded with some West Coast-style hop heavyweights: Amarillo, Citra, Talus and Idaho-7. There is a hit of sweetness embraced by the tropical fruit flavours of the hops. A perfect match for Americanstyle barbecue food like pulled pork or spicy ribs.

Zeelandt Guv’nor Extra Pale Ale

5.3% ABV, 440ml RRP $7.99

Zeelandt Brewing

This is Zeelandt’s new world take on the masterful beer style of Extra Special Bitter from Britain. The Guv is light and bright in the glass with some juicy crystal malt coming through. Fresh citrus and tropical hops burst through in the aroma and on the palate too.

Parrotdog Bruce Fresh Hop Hazy IPA

7% ABV, 440ml RRP $10.99

Parrotdog

Parrotdog’s Bruce Fresh Hop Hazy IPA combines Nectaron and Riwaka hops to create a hazy that’s packed with tropical waves of nectarine and grapefruit. The brewers describe it as a “friendly blend” – definitely one to be shared with pals.

Sunshine Brewing Rolling Stones

7% ABV, 440ml RRP $11.99

Vintners

An amalgamation of two hop-centric brewing styles, this beer has been produced using multiple modern techniques to provide a clean malt base with pilsner and rice to allow the El Dorado and Simcoe hops to shine to their maximum potential. A hoppy wee number, and at a big 7%.

8-Wired Mosaic Express Hazy IPA

7.2% ABV, 440ml RRP $9.99

8-Wired

Mosaic Express rolls into the station in a beautiful fruity can that will enliven any bar fridge. The beer itself is lightly hazy and the Mosaic hops pack a massive punch of tropical mango and citrus flavours with that familiar pine overtone. Hop lovers will be in paradise.

Bach Brewing Grain Daddy West Coast Double IPA

8% ABV, 440ml RRP $10.99

Bach Brewing

This is a big beer in every sense of the word: big can, big ABV, and big flavours generously given by the double IPA. While the Riwaka, Amarillo, Citra and Zythos hops provide most of the bang, the harvester on the front of the can speaks to Grain Daddy’s true star – the Gladfield malt that underpins everything.

Boneface Unf*ck the World Double IPA

8% ABV, 440ml RRP $11.99

Boneface Brewing

The title of this latest offering from Boneface probably sums up how many of us are feeling at the moment – so all power to the wizard battling the monster on the front. It’s a classic IPA packed with U.S. hops and flavours of citrus, pineapple and stonefruit and a medium malt body that balances the sweetness. And, just maybe, drinking it will help to fix everything that’s wrong with the planet.

Garage Project Sunrise Valley 2022

8% ABV, 440ml RRP $11 – available 3 May

Garage Project

Originally brewed in Canton, Massachusetts with East Coast brewing legends Trillium, Sunrise Valley uses a radical hop free boil and massive dry hop addition of New Zealand Nelson, Sauvin and Rakau hops.

Sawmill Quadrupel

10% ABV, 500ml RRP $11.99

Sawmill Brewery

Clear some space for this vintage ale from the team at Sawmill. Their quadrupel is a big 500ml bottle containing a big 10% ale packed with expressive yeast and dark candy sugar notes. The flavour profile also has ‘bigness’ with stonefruit, raisin and spice characters.

CIDER

Morningcider Co. Hot X Bun Cider

4.5% ABV, 440ml RRP $6.99

Hancocks

Just in time for Easter, Morningcider’s Hot-X Bun Cider tastes exactly as it says on the can. Beautiful flavours of cinnamon, spice, yeast and apple really do convey the flavour of a hot cross bun. Forget the chocolate eggs, we’d like the Easter Bunny to leave this out please.

Peckham’s Farmhouse 2021

5.6% ABV, 330ml RRP $4.99

Peckham’s

This a gentle cider that transports you instantly to England’s West Country. A can of this and a block of sharp Cheddar and you could be sitting under a tree in Devon or Dorset. There’s a bit of spice and yeastiness about the apples but it’s all very relaxed and embraced by a big dollop of sweetness. A cider to bring a smile to your face.

Peckham’s Reserve Dry 2021

6.9% ABV, 330ml RRP $5.99

Peckham’s

A delicious cider of great restraint and refinement. The classic Peckham’s flavours of traditional cider apples are there, but the dryness adds an extra sophisticated edge. It’s rich and earthy, bonedry with a long oaky finish. A perfect cheese board accompaniment.

Peckham’s & Cell Division – The Orchardist

7.2% ABV, 330ml RRP $6.99

Peckham’s

The Orchardist is a wild cider produced using Linda apples, a unique variety discovered by Harry McQuillan – the orchardist of the title and the father of Jamie McQuillan, whose Dunedin brewery Cell Division is the collaborator on this drop. The Orchardist is aged in Chardonnay barrels with wild yeasts and the resulting cider is deceptively dry, fruity and wine-like, with floral elderflower notes. Beautiful can artwork too.