Going native at Beervana worth trying

BY GEOFF GRIGGS

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". 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?

Well, 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 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, so 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.

The theme for this year's BrewNZ's Festive Beers category is truly and uniquely Kiwi.

The rule is that festive beers must be available for sampling at Beervana, the public tasting event that 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".

Already the internet is 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.

While sampling my way through the Wigram beers I came across one that would qualify for this year's festive beers category but was 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. At around $7 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.

Cheers!

Beervana runs over four sessions on Friday, August 27 and Saturday, August 28. Tickets cost $30 per session and are available from Ticketek (043843842) or online at beervana.co.nz

- The Marlborough Express