New Zealand Beer Report

As promised....................

Brew Moon Hop Head IPA (14/20)
Caramel brown, slightly murky, and a good head early. Aromatic hop-drive nose with a very nice fruity / estery kick. Flavours are a touch on the lighter side; dry hops, almost metallic-like, some fruitiness. Good bitterness on the finish. Perhaps lacks a touch of intensity but otherwise very complete.

Dux de Lux Nor Wester (14/20)
Former winner of the top gong at the AIBA. Thin head, darkish amber / tan; very clear. Bitter herbal and hop notes on the nose, not over the top, and well defined for the style. All about hops and bitterness in the palate with a hard hop finish (a touch resiny) and a simple bitter finish. Well made.

Dux de Lux Black Shag Stout (14/20)
Good effort. Close to black in colour and thus quite true to form. Opens up in a dry roasty style, no surprises, but finishes with a super strong mocha coffee note. Memorable finish, and one that is very appealing.

Dux de Lux Wakatipu Wheat (11/20)
Confusing. Wouldn’t have picked this as a wheat. Looks the part (nice clear gold) but the flavours are perhaps British ale-like given the almost bitter, hop driven finish. Texture is reasonably thick but the flavours don’t spell wheat. Notwithstanding, a nice enough beer.

Green Man Best Bitter (9/20)
Very bitter-like in appearance; dark amber in colour and thin head. The immediate impression on both bouquet and palate is that of a well made pale lager, particularly so given the late hit of mild bitterness. Some underlying fruity notes do however hint to the ale / bitter character, but the lager notes prove distracting. Fizz is also way too high.

Harrington's Best Bitter (14/20)
I liked this. Good example of the classic UK style but carries a touch more alcohol and caramel / toffee malts to create a slightly bolder flavour profile. Nice mild bitter finish.

Harrington's First of the Summer Ale (11/20)
Perhaps a bit harsh in my comments but this is a fairly pedestrian golden ale style. Well constructed nevertheless. Light malts, faint honey, and a nice elegant spice finish. Not miles away from Coopers Pale and Sparkling, at least to my tastes.

Harrington's Premium Stout (12/20)
Looks great. Near black in colour with a thin but dense mocca coloured head. Mild roast nose with coffee, malts and a faint metallic note. Fairly similar again to taste although the roast component was fractionally sweeter. Pretty good weight for a 5%er.

Harrington's Classy Red (11/20)
Medium sized head; offwhite and quite fizzy with low density. Nose is somewhat rustic with stewed fruits and a rusty metallic hint. Flavours follow the aromas closely with the addition of some firming hops in the back palate. Quite an ok beer but I can’t get my head around the stewed character coming from the malts.

Harrington's Pilsner (15/20)
Light golden amber and a thin, well built head. Great hop treatment; cuts ferns, resiny, piney, very expressive. Nice aniseed touches as well. Long broad finish.

Harrington's Belgian Tempest (16/20)
Interesting beer. Label states that the beer is styled as a saison but I think more of a Belgian Ale, and a strong one at that given the 8%. Some spice on the nose and palate early, and thus a nod to the saison genre, but plenty of typical Belgian malt sweetness builds right through the palate. Nose is full of passionfruits, which in itself is quite unusual. Pronounced dryness kicks in late.

Harrington's Triple M (15/20)
I’ve classified this as a Scotch Ale but happy to take suggestions as it does have some stout characters. On tap at the most excellent Spring & Fern in Nelson (a bar owned by the brewery). Dark brown with a very thin head. Soft, sweet chocolate aromas but probably served a touch too cold to pick up much else. Plenty of chocolate, chocolate biscuit and fruitcake to taste. No flavour fruit bomb, rather this beer is built with elegance and class. Not unlike the Special John Reserve but of course without the out-and-out intensity.

Harrington's Wee Heavy (14/20)
Also on tap at the Sprig and Fern in Nelson. Identical in appearance to the MMM. Sweet chocolate biscuit nose; very morish. Darker malts, dark chocolate, some bitterness, and a bourbon / spirity note appears on the finish. Fruitcake flavours as well. Very good depth and balance.

Mac's Hop Rocker (16/20)
Really impressive due to the awesome hop treatment that leaves such a strong impression right through the palate. Big herbal / nettle hit early followed up with a grainy, wheat-like character. The obvious peer is the Wanaka Brewski but I think this is a better beer.

Pink Elephant Mammoth (15/20)
Brown ale on steroids perhaps? Clearly shows some semblance of the style with mild chocolate roast and rich malts but both characters are swamped, or at least overshadowed, through a sweet Belgian-like malt hit. Shows the 7%, and I think the ABV brings a toffee character out nicely, albeit not true to style. Good fun, and it’s hard not to like this beer.

Pink Elephant Imperious Rushin Stowt (16/20)
Amazing pour; very dark brown with a yellow, almost orange coloured head - looks very tasty. Soft chocolate nose, great depth. Palate does a complete about face; dry, herbal, dusty, dry licorice. Very old school - kinda like a classic Bordeaux cabernet - not some young upstart from Margaret River or Napa. Maybe some oak notes in there as well. Early days but full of interest.

Pink Elephant Trumpet (14/20)
Fruity nose with passionfruit. Very light and dances across the nose. Palate is also well fruited, much more than the nose suggests. Big dry finish and tough to pick the alcohol. I’ve got no idea how to frame this beer but it has a certain appeal.

Renaissance Discovery American Pale Ale (13/20)
Clear amber; commercial looking with a medium sized white head. Mild nose of herbal hops, nettles, some fruit. Good depth despite the elegant persistence. Very light to taste but well structured. More hops, grape fruits, some bitterness, a rusty feel and taste. Wide, broad palate, Classy but mild, and at 4.5% so it should be. Beautifully packaged BTW.

Speights Gold Medal Ale (14/20)
A bit of a surprise packet. Styled as a golden ale or perhaps a very lightly hopped bitter (again - strictly my interpretation). Flavours are driven by a sweetish honeyed malt note. Very simple, and perhaps a touch dumb, but I thought it worked very well as a relatively low ABV (4%) alternative.

Moa Harvest Ale (14/20)
The label states ’a very rare beer from Aotearoa’! Good form in the glass; big active head, very white, whilst the beer is a nice dull orange / lemon. Murky. Clear cherry aromas that finish with a slightly harder, bitter, liqueured note. Clean and sharp to taste, not unexpectedly the cherry note is toned down in the palate. Has a champagne-like feel and structure with consistent bubbles and a yeasty / biscuity note. Note unlike the other beers in the range. I really liked this.

Moa Five Hop Winter Ale (13/20)
I might be going against the grain here but I thought this was a pretty good beer. Massive rocky head and big chunky lunching. Nice caramel colour in the glass. Expressive nose of complex hops showing both sweet piney notes and a clear herbal edge - nice. Sweet character early before the hops role in. Similar to the aromas - piney and herbally - but doesn’t overpower. Slight astringent, bitter and liqueured finish.

Three Boys IPA (16/20)
Pure white fizzy head and bog standard dark amber gold in colour. Perhaps a touch light, in appearance, in the context of typical IPA. Fruity nose very early before a firm edge kicks in. Broad, balanced palate. Fruit lurks all the way through but its mostly a story of what I call old fashioned hop flavour. Really daggy, kinda like what you might see in a traditional pilsner from Eastern Europe. Very text book in style but done very well.

Twisted Hop Honey Dew (10/20)
Light delicate honey beer. Obvious lager character with almost CUB-like bitterness on the back palate. A bit bland for my liking as the honey character to just to mild.

Twisted Hop Oatmeal Stout (12/20)
A good example of the style in every facet. Hand pumped so very creamy and soft structure. Milk chocolate and mild coco drives the flavours but the intensity did fall away in the back palate to leave a mild burnt note.

Twisted Hop Twisted Ankle (14/20)
On cask at the pub. Very dark brown with a faint red tinge. Nice thin coffee coloured head. Unique aromas of spice, cooked fruits and malts, and a touch of cinnamon. Fruity palate with plenty of malt impact. Aniseed, a faint hint of treacle, light chocolate. Slightly dilutive finish but otherwise pretty good.

Twisted Hop Challenger (14/20)
Another very solid handpumped effort from Twisted Hop. Soft, creamy, excellent drive from the fruity hops right through the palate. Nose shows a good combination of fruit and green nettles; plenty of character here. Bitter finish with a mild licorice note; thickens progressively. The weight from the 5% ABV, relative to most English examples, is obvious.

Wanaka Beer Works Brewski (16/20)
Very clean and well made pilsner. Appearance and nose doesn’t give much cause for excitement (some ok sweet malts and herbally, corny hops) but this beer really excels in the flavour and structure department. Well balanced Saaz hops action right through the palate together with a mild malt note. Some smokey, farmyard flavours as well, and perhaps a touch of raw wheat. So well balanced and clean it almost borders on being clinical. Quite classic. I thought it was over-rated as NZ’s number 3 beer (http://www.ratebeer.com/) but upon reflect is sits comfortably.

Wigram Dakota Dark (12/20)
Very dark brown with a thin coffee coloured head. Milk chocolate and sweet malts on the nose. Dry roast early to taste, very dry and almost minerally. Finishes with mild milk chocolate.