Give 'em a Taste of Kiwi
Quite a few NZ breweries came back from the recent Australian International Beer Awards with a medal or three. Cock and Bull, Emerson’s, Founder’s, DB and Lion all came back with a whole fistful.
A few notable kiwi beers picked up “Best in Class” nods. These beers, with their entered style in brackets, were:
I was disappointed to see a few very good NZ beers missing out but, as the saying goes, you can’t win them all. And as I like to say, give them a taste and judge for yourself.
Full results.
A few notable kiwi beers picked up “Best in Class” nods. These beers, with their entered style in brackets, were:
- Steinlager (Australian style lager), Lion Nathan.
- Monk’s Habit (India Pale Ale), Cock & Bull.
- Dark Star (Porter), Cock & Bull.
- White Rock Wheat (Belgian Style Witbier), Martinborough Brewing Co.
I was disappointed to see a few very good NZ beers missing out but, as the saying goes, you can’t win them all. And as I like to say, give them a taste and judge for yourself.
Full results.
posted by Stu as "Stu" at 1:58 pm
7 Comments:
I must say, we are very pleased with our awards this year, especially winning top Belgium Style Wheat Beer for the third year in a row! See small breweries can achieve great consistency. Also the Square Ale and Tora Dark won their third lot of medals too, three years in a row.
Fiona Stewart
Martinborough Beer & Ales
All good beers you are breweing there - keep up thje good work as I will look forward to imbibing then on my return to NZ
maybe the beers that missed out weren't good enough. a beer competition isn't about awarding beers you like and think are great. it is about judging beers blind and awarding those beers that are actually great. so many people (actually most people) get caught up in the brand, and what the marketing and advertising tells them to believe. That is why large breweries spend so much money on marketing a brand of what really is a commodity, making it cheap as possible, to make profit. You don't think they are actually trying to make something that is nice to drink?
Anonymous - Maybe they weren't up to scratch. I wasn't there judging on the day but I know some of these beers are very good (Lighthouse Classic Stout, for example, which is a multiple award winner that I have tasted many times).
It is also very important to note that beer awards are not actually about "awarding those beers that are great". They are about awarding beers that are great interpretations "to style". Monk's Habit is a great beer but I doubt it would medal if entered as a Witbier.
Slainte mhath
Stu
so are you saying was Lighthouse Classic Stout entered in the Witbier category?
And Monk's Habit is an Abbey Ale but it wins in the IPA section???
I'm confused
No, I'm not saying either of those things but I am saying that the most important decision a brewer makes, when entering awards, is to choose the right category. Tui, for example, is not going to be entered in the Indian Pale Ale section.
Monk's Habit has certainly drifted well away from the Abbey style, if it ever was there. It's chock full of hops and caramelised sappy malts. Neither of these are very "Abbey". I'm surprised it's not in the APA or Imperial APA class (but I haven't read the style guidelines so it is hard to tell).
Medals don't tell you everything but they certainly must help the brewer makes sales. Some of the beers that missed out, that I have tried, are certainly good enough to medal (at a certain angle, in a certain light). As per the last line of the original post - you be the judge - you are what counts in the end.
Congratulations to Martinborough on yet another competition triumph for a Ben Middlemiss brewed beer.
Is he brewing full-time for MB&A these days?
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