The New World Beer & Cider Awards was launched in 2014 with the objective of finding the best quality commercially available beers & ciders for consumers. This means that every beer & cider entered into the competition by breweries and cideries from New Zealand and overseas must be packaged for sale (so it can’t be available only in kegs) and have a minimum quantity of stock available for New World’s thirsty customers.
For the first four years, entries were judged to Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and the Best in Class / Champions were agreed and awarded. The 14 Best in Class / Champion winners were rewarded with nationwide distribution through New World stores. The awards weren’t judged in 2015 as the competition timing was changed to later in the calendar year.
In 2019 the awards structure changed to the Top 100. The Top 30 entries are recognised and rewarded with nationwide distribution through New World stores, which is a great result for consumers and the winning producers. The next 70 best beers and ciders are awarded Highly Commended, creating a Top 100 list for shoppers to explore.
In 2020 a separate class for hazy beers was introduced as their popularity grew. In 2021 the competition welcomed supermarket-compliant seltzers, alcoholic kombuchas and alcoholic ginger beers entries to reflect changing customer demand and producer ingenuity. In 2022 we introduced specific classes for low alcohol beers and ciders (less than 1.15% ABV) as more breweries entered this space and in 2023 a new class was created for low carb beers.
The awards structure has changed over the years, however the objective remains the same with customers looking forward to the results announcement each year.
Below are the historic results of the New World Beer & Cider Awards judging.