Let's go Native at the BrewNZ Beer Awards

Every year in July and August, in the run up to the BrewNZ Beer Awards, which takes place in Wellington later this month, I am contacted by brewers eager to discuss their beers. Sometimes it's a simple request for me to sample some beers and offer my opinion as to their medal-worthiness , but more often it's a plea for help entering their beers in the most suitable style categories in the forthcoming competition.

A fortnight ago it was the turn of Paul McGurk of Christchurch's Wigram Brewery. Paul was on a whistle-stop sales trip of Marlborough when he called at my house, handed me a box of his beers and asked me to, "Pick out the best ones and let me know what categories to enter them in". Then, quick as a flash, he was off again to sell some more beer!

Why do brewers sometimes have trouble entering their beers in the competition? Let me explain...

In order to make New Zealand's leading beer competition as relevant as possible on an international stage BrewNZ's organisers, the Brewers Guild of New Zealand, elected several years ago to adopt the international beer style guidelines developed by the world's largest competition, the World Beer Cup. Developed and constantly updated by a team of judges and brewers, the WBC style guidelines aim to accommodate every recognised style of beer produced worldwide. There are even categories for new, experimental and as yet unclassified styles. As a result brewers wishing to enter their beers into the BrewNZ Beer Awards have well over 100 style categories to choose from!

The growing international status of BrewNZ has seen a steady increase in the number of overseas entries. Early indications suggest these could reach 100 this year, which would bring the total number of beers to be judged to around 430. That's a lot of beers!

The theme for this year's BrewNZ's Festive Beers category is truly and uniquely Kiwi. Originally designed as an opportunity for brewers to think outside the square and produce something radical which may, or may not, be sold commercially, the rule is that festive beers must be available for sampling at Beervana, the public tasting event which runs in conjunction with BrewNZ.

The theme for this year's festive brews category is "Let's go Native" and, according to the otherwise loose style guidelines, entries must include "an additional ingredient that is native or uniquely indigenous to New Zealand. This could include a plant/flower, vegetable, fruit, animal (i.e. shellfish), herb, spice or wild yeast".

Already the internet is already buzzing with clues as to what Kiwi brewers may have in store. A couple of Auckland brewers are said to be making festival brews - one with pohutakawa wood and tamarillos, the other using horopito and kawakawa - while a Blenheim brewer has blogged about his experiments with feijoas and manuka-smoked kumara. This year's Beervana (details below) should be most interesting!

While sampling my way through the Wigram beers I came across one that would qualify for this year's festive beers category but was actually modelled on New Zealand's very first beer.  Infused with rimu, manuka and molasses and only gently hopped, Wigram Spruce Beer is a re-creation of the beer made by Captain Cook on his arrival in Dusky Sound in 1773.

Rich, full bodied and warming, with plenty of sweet malt and molasses in evidence, the spruce (rimu) and tea tree (manuka) contribute a lingering, woody, spicy / herbal earthiness that reminds me of the smell of the bush on a rainy day. Lacking hop flavour and bitterness this reddish coloured brew has a mild finish with the sweet malt and molasses and spicy, medicinal notes fading slowly. It makes a fine digestif when served un-chilled, but is also a candidate for mulling on a cold winter's night.

At around seven dollars for a 500ml bottle, Wigram Spruce Beer (4.9 per cent) is certainly left-field and unique, but I reckon it's well worth trying. While some people just don't 'get' this unusual brew I'm hoping the judges at BrewNZ will look kindly on it.

Cheers!

By Geoff Griggs
The Marlborough Express

Beervana runs over four sessions on Friday 27^th and Saturday 28^th August. Tickets cost $30 per session and are available from Ticketek (04 384 3842) or online at www.beervana.co.nz.