Beer O'Clock: BrewNZ Beer Awards

Neil Miller from Realbeer presents further results, recommendations and reflections from the recent BrewNZ Beer Awards.

The lovely city of Wellington recently hosted possibly the world’s most important awards ceremony - the BrewNZ 2007 Beer Awards. A panel of international and local beer judges sipped and sampled their way through over 180 entries from around the world. They bestowed 81 medals including 17 prestigious golds. Here are the results and some personal recommendations from the awards:

Class 1: Classic hybrid New Zealand style beers
Best in class - Mac's Gold
One to try – Harrington’s Finest Lager

Class 2: Amber and dark lagers
Best in Class – Black Magic from Sunshine Breweries in Gisborne
One to try – Moa Noir

Class 3: International golden lager styles
Best in Class - Limburg Czechmate Pilsner
One to try – Vailima from Samoa Breweries

Class 4: French and Belgium style ales
Best in Class – Emerson’s JP
One to try – Tuatara Ardennes

Class 5: New World/American style ales
Best in Class - Cock and Bull Monk's Habit
One to try – Epic Pale Ale

Class 6: UK and other European style ales
Best in Class – Tuatara IPA
One to try - Admirals India Pale Ale from KEA Breweries in the Hawke’s Bay

Class 7: Stouts and Porters
Best in Class – Three Boys Oyster Stout (made with real oysters)
One to try – Pitch Black from Invercargill Brewery

Class 8: Strong ales and lagers
Best in Class – Renaissance Stonecutter Scotch Ale
One to try – Haagen Gold

Class 9: Wheat (and other grain) beers
Best in Class – KEA Admirals Weisse Beer
One to try – Redback Original from the Matilda Bay Brewery in Australia

Class 10: Fruit, spiced or herbed beers
Best in Class - Smokin' Bishop from Invercargill Brewery (a smoked bock)
One to try – Emerson’s Taieri George (tastes liquid hot cross buns)

Class 11: Packaging Award
Best in Class – The quite stunning Renaissance bottle range:
The judges did not award any medals in the low-alcohol/experimental class this year. Finally, some awards that should have been given but weren’t:

Best beer name - Squatters Chasing Tail Ale from the Utah Brewers Cooperative, USA
Hardest gold medal to believe – my beer nemesis Ginger Tom from the otherwise excellent Dux de Lux brewpub
First beer to run out – Epic Mayhem

Try them all – now!

Cheers, Neil
Realbeer