Meet the crafty creators behind the Top 30 brews in the New World Beer & Cider Awards. You can also explore more with the New Zealand Ale Trail – just click here.
8 Wired Brewing
Once a small start-up, born during the infancy of the New Zealand craft beer revolution, 8 Wired Brewery now boasts one of the largest barrel ageing facilities in the southern hemisphere.
Located in Warkworth, alongside a new taproom and eatery in Matakana, founder Soren Eriksen and his team are specialists in crafting 'new world interpretations of old-world style beers' and are much loved for their daring and award-winning sours.
Asahi
Asahi's international legacy stretches all the way back to its origins in Osaka, Japan where beers like its famed Asahi Super Dry are still brewed.
Today, Asahi continues to use Japanese master brewing techniques combined with advanced technologies to deliver a dry, crisp taste across its range of classic and innovative new beverages.
Baylands Brewery
Based in the bustling Lower Hutt suburb of Petone, Baylands Brewery is Aidan and Louise Styles’ prized possession. What once started as a small project in a garage back in 2012, Baylands have grown immensely and now boast a fully licenced Taproom that offers 30+ different beers and BBQ food.
The family-owned team is dedicated to making delicious independent beers that can be enjoyed by Kiwis, with their popular range continuing to grow.
Bootleg Brewery Ltd
Bootleg Brewery in Matangi, Waikato brew beer that’s an experience. The brewery first came into the spotlight in 2017 when their relatively unknown Apehanger IPA won Champion Strong Ale at the NZ Beer Awards.
The team have since gained a reputation for high quality IPAs, Stouts and Belgian beers and complied an impressive list of accolades. Ranked fifth on Untappd in New Zealand, this brewery is one to watch, and true to their motto "Outrun Ordinary Beer".
Burkes Brewing Co
Located in the middle of the Mackenzie High Country, Burkes Brewing Company supplies their top of the range brews to the local Mackenzie Basin area and now further afield thanks to a growing number of high-profile awards and rising popularity
Although Burkes Brewing Company is small in size, there is nothing small about the flavour of their award-winning beers.
Deep Creek Brewing
Deep Creek started as a small brewery in 2011 in the Auckland suburb of Silverdale, and since then have grown to international acclaim both across the ditch and further afield in Asia and Europe.
With a mission to produce the best quality beer, Deep Creek specialises in producing premium beers that cover a depth of different flavours to suit everyone.
Double Vision Brewing
The small team at Double Vision do it all for the love of craft beer and community. While they are focused on “Making Mouth Parties at your place”, they are also big on creating a sense of community for locals to gather at their home base in Miramar, Wellington.
And while they say they’re not about collecting medals or designing show ponies, they’re doing that too, adding an inaugural Top 30 win to their achievements this year.
Lakeman Brewing Co
Working from what was once a farm utility shed, nestled among rolling green hills above a pristine fresh water bore, Lakeman’s small but talented team produce award-winning craft beers.
While the brand’s hairy Lakeman persona doesn’t take itself too seriously, the Taupō-based team are very serious about making the best quality beer and put protecting their local water quality at the core of everything they do.
Mac’s Beer NZ
Nowadays Kiwi beer lovers are spoilt for choice but this wasn’t the case in 1981, when a man named Terry changed everything by applying for a brewing license.
Being a pioneer is hard work, but beer drinkers liked what they tasted and the pioneering spirit to create something a bit more interesting still runs through everything Mac's does in their beer and cider range.
Martinborough Brewery
Martinborough Brewery is South Wairarapa’s only craft beer brewery. Nestled amongst Martinborough's many vineyards, this boutique brewery is a perfectly carbonated thorn amongst a heck of a lot of rosé, where a small but passionate team produces beers with a focus on quality and flavour.
McLeod’s Brewery
If you have a passion for the beach life and Scottish heritage, there is perhaps nowhere better to head than Waipu, Northland. And that’s just what brothers Geoff and Clayton Gwynne did when they left the corporate world 20 years ago and bought the Waipu Pizza Barn.
They’ve been making their mark on the place ever since, setting up McLeod’s Brewery onsite in 2014, and along with head brewer Jason Bathgate, are now a regular on awards lists.
Monteith’s Brewery
Monteith’s is one of the oldest craft brands in the country, dating back to the mid-1800s on New Zealand’s West Coast.
Today Monteith’s remains committed to authentic, quality craft beers and cider as the range continues to expand, adapt and explore new styles, hops and flavours to give Kiwis something that's ‘Brewed For Right Now’.
Morningcider
Morningcider, an innovative cider trio-based in... wait for it... Morningside, started as a small side-hustle and quickly expanded into a dynamic, award-winning brewing company with its own local cider bar.
Coming from a neighbourhood that always looks on the ‘bright cider life’, the team are driven to make Morningside a better place to live, planting apple trees in backyards all around their community to create the world’s first urban orchard.
Mount Brewing Co
A locally owned and operated second generation brewery, Mount Brewing Co have a passion for making tasty, high-quality brews that represent the Bay of Plenty and keep Mt Maunganui locals’ thirsts satisfied.
Alongside a popular core range of beers to suit every style, the team also like to push boundaries, experimenting with flavour combos and crazy ingredients in their ever-changing seasonals.
Tiger
Tiger was born in 1932 on the streets of Singapore. Today, Tiger is one of the world’s fastest-growing beer brands and is available in more than 50 markets across the globe.
Defying the odds to create the ultimate brew, a perfect balance between bold and refreshing, Tiger has been uncaging new ways to take refreshment to the next level and make the impossible possible for decades.
Paynter’s Hawke’s Bay Cider
Paynter’s makes cider how it should be. Located in the orchard paradise of Hawke’s Bay and already well known for their Yummy fruit brand, the Paynter family have put their five generations of apple-growing expertise to use to grow traditional cider apples.
Paired with the latest precision wine making techniques, they’re focused on crafting the very best authentic ciders in New Zealand, and one day the world.
Shining Peak Brewing
Shining Peak’s name pays homage to their much-loved Taranaki home, where they brew award-winning beer and serve up delicious food at their local eatery.
On a mission for their beer to make the world a better place, the company commits to giving 5% of all beer sales back to the local community – raising over $170,000 and counting.
Steinlager
Born from a challenge to produce a lager of international quality right here in New Zealand, Steinlager has for 65 years championed national pride with its range of award-winning lagers.
Steinlager boasts an impressive core range and is proud to be brewed at The Pride, New Zealand’s largest brewery. True to its original spirit, Steinlager is always on hand to remind our country it can take on the world.
Otago Brew School
Otago Brew School – the fully-operational commercial brewery attached to New Zealand’s first dedicated brewing school at Otago Polytech, is literally the future of brewing in NZ.
A training ground for brewing professionals, the school aims to impact the craft beer industry with a steady stream of well-rounded and capable talent, ready to hit the ground running with their award-winning brewing skills.
Panhead Custom Ales
Panhead Custom Ales are the craft beer engineers of Upper Hutt, their veins flowing with a combustible mix of heavily hopped ale. Founder Mike Neilson started brewing his four stock brews in 2013 at the old Dunlop tyre factory in Maidstone, and the public quickly caught on.
Now brewing some of New Zealand’s best-selling craft beers, The Panhead brew crew continue to maintain the brewery’s legendary reputation for quality and consistency.
Parrotdog
The Parrotdog story is almost legendary… In just a decade three Matts – Kristofski, Warner and Stevens, have grown from humble beginnings in their basement flat to become a fully-fledged commercial brewery and darling business of the New Zealand brewing scene.
Today, Parrotdog continues to reach for new heights with their approachable, uncomplicated beers that are as popular as ever and a regular in chillers and on taps all around the country.
Ruapehu Brewing Co
The Ruapehu Brewing Co became the first brewery in the district when it launched from the heritage railway station building in Ohakune in 2017. Starting small, the team focused on serving great beer to the locals, before setting their sights on bigger things.
Now operating from their purpose-built brewery and in the heart of Ohakune, the company is starting to capture national attention.
Sprig + Fern Brewing Co
Owner and Master Brewer Tracy Banner heads the small and enthusiastic Sprig + Fern brewery team in Richmond. Their philosophy is simple: use top-notch ingredients and work hard to ensure quality and consistency, which has earned them a solid reputation amongst craft beer drinkers around New Zealand – as well as a full trophy cabinet.
Three Sisters Brewery
Three Sisters Brewery is a husband-and-wife team, Joe and Sarah, who first started brewing boutique craft beer in their garage in coastal Taranaki.
Following a breakthrough award in 2015, their meticulous approach and respect for quality ingredients has seen them become one of Taranaki’s most successful craft breweries, now run out of the beautiful old New Plymouth Saving Bank building.
Urbanaut Brewery
While the Urbanaut brewery is set in metropolitan Auckland, its beers are designed with the explorer in mind, with each new drop an ode to the international city it was inspired by.
With each brew taking fans on a different journey that celebrates global flavours and styles, no two Urbanaut beers are the same. The only constant is the team’s dedication to crafting the finest beer, whether it is one of their classics or an exciting new special.
Zeffer
The journey for Zeffer began in 2008 when Zeffer’s founders quit their day jobs to pursue the craft of cidermaking. Popularity at their local Farmers' Market in Matakana pushed the team into expanding, both the types of beverages they make and where they’re sold, with Zeffer popping up in stores across the country.
Since then, the Zeffer headquarters have relocated to sunny Hawke's Bay and there has been no looking back. Zeffer can now be found across the world, putting NZ on the map for top quality craft beverages.