NZ’S TOP CRAFT BEER

It’s time to raise a glass or two to the beverages honoured at the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular.

Discovering a new, high-quality craft beer or cider can be pretty exciting – it sure is for me, perhaps equal to finding a new wine style or producer. With more than 70 craft breweries in New Zealand, there are plenty of selections and an increasing range of styles. If beer is your thing, kettle sours, Berliner Weisse and gose beers should really be on your shopping list in addition to the lager and IPA (India pale ale) you might usually buy.

At the recent Great Australasian Beer Spectapular, more than 800 beers were polled, with the Upper Hutt brewery Panhead Custom Ales’ Supercharger taking out the title of New Zealand’s most popular craft beer of 2019.

Previous winner Garage Project’s Pernicious Weed (a double India pale ale) moved to second place. This popular Wellington brewer also claimed third place with Aro Street, a New England (or Hazy) IPA.