Three wise Masters and 30 good-looking beer fans

What do you get when you take our most respected brewer, our best beer retailer, our oldest beer writer, 30 young, passionate and good-looking beer fans and 9% craft beers? I’m asking because my memory is cloudy. Last weekend Regional Wines hosted another annual Master Class with Richard Emerson. Richard is the Willie Wonka behind […]

The beer giveaway that sells punters short

What do you say when a friend tells you all beer tastes the same? People who pride themselves on good taste in wine will tell you they can’t tell one beer from another. Those who know good coffee will say they’ve never had a good beer. I can completely sympathise with beer sceptics, because it’s […]

IPA Challenge – Over-hopped or over hops?

I was at the Malthouse on Saturday for the third West Coast IPA Challenge. I was expecting hops, hops and nothing but hops, but I didn’t get it. And that’s a good thing. Now don’t get me wrong – there’s no shortage of healthy, resinous, clears-the-sinuses American hops in both Epic Armageddon and Hallertau Maximus […]

Is there good beer north of Auckland?

I travel the country for work (business travel, that is – I’m not a hobo*). So I’m regularly looking for something interesting in towns where Monteiths is flash and the Chinese restaurant is exotic. This month I was in Northland. The forests are subtropical but finding a good beer is like finding an oasis in […]

Tis the season to be hoppy

Think of winter beers, and you’ll usually be looking at porters, stouts or strong ales. But the last few weeks have seen a sudden round of new, hoppy pale ales hit the bars, and over the weekend I set out to try a few. Epic Pale Ale set a benchmark four years ago when it […]

Welcome to NZ Beer Blog

There’s never been a better time to enjoy New Zealand beer. NZ Beer Blog is an enthusiastic, subjective, opinionated and independent celebration of New Zealand beer and brewing. We’ll look at the best places to enjoy New Zealand beer, industry news and present compelling reasons for trying a new beer this weekend. I’m Martin Craig. […]

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