*🏆2025 NZ Beer Awards Official Release!

We are honoured to join forces with the Brewers Guild of New Zealand to bring you this official release, celebrating the best of the best from the 2025 NZ Beer Awards!

🏆Massive congratulations to Brave Brewing for taking out the Overall Champion NZ Brewery (and Champion Small Brewery), Garage Project for winning the Champion Large Brewery, Altitude Brewing for winning the Champion Medium Brewery and Karamu Barrelworks for winning the Champion Micro Brewery. What a bunch of legends!🏆

Showcasing 12 Trophy & Gold Medal winners across the 5 fiercely contended Pale Ale categories, this official release can only be described as the very best box of Pale Ales in NZ right now. And it’s official!

These beers were selected from 650 entries, across 70 breweries, by 25 of New Zealand's and Australia's top beer judges for being “true to style” based on the stringent US Brewers Association Style Guidelines, as well as the Brewers Guild of New Zealand Entry Guidelines.

In your 2025 Champion Pale Ales Box, you’ll receive the following 12 Trophy & Gold Medal winners (2x 500ml, 9x 440ml + 1x 330ml);

India Pale Ale: Sponsored by Label & Litho

• 🏆Champion: Brave Brewing Tiger Milk IPA 500ml (6.6%): A light bodied easy drinking IPA brewed with a blend of old and new school America hop varieties for a delicious cocktail of citrus and tropical fruit.
• 🥇Gold: Lakeman Copycat WCIPA 440ml (6.7%): This copycat, based on the original West Coast IPA, delivers upfront citrus and tropical fruits with a great dankness and bitterness throughout because sometimes it is just better to copy a classic.
• 🥇Gold: Altitude Zeus Skis in Jeans WCIPA 440ml (6.6%): Brewed with precision and balance, it’s a throwback to classic West Coast flavour with modern freshness. No haze. No nonsense. Just a powerful hop character and old-school swagger. 

NZ IPA, NZ Pale & NZ Draught: Sponsored by Kegstar

• 🏆Champion: Bach Brewing Bedford NZ IPA 440ml (6.4%): Loaded with Motueka, Peacharine, Riwaka and NZ101, it's as kiwi as, a mighty ol' S-Bedford which toiled for an era to build our nation and quench thirsts, when NZ pioneered delivering beer to pubs in massive ~5,000 litre beer tankers.
• 🥇Gold: Lakeman Let’s Get Coned IPA 440ml (6.7%): Big-hitting Sauvignon notes are layered on a background of Guava and soft bitterness produced by Kohatu. This juicy ale sits on a bready cookie-like base with an oily, candied hop decadence.
• 🥇Gold: Alibi Brewing Little Palm NZ IPA 440ml (6.9%): Inspired by Waiheke’s iconic nudist spot, this brew throws caution (and clothing) to the wind. With a stripped-back malt profile that lays everything bare, it’s bursting with juicy, dank notes from Riwaka and Nelson Sauvin hops.

International Pale Ale: Sponsored by HPA

• 🏆Champion: Brave Brewing Stay Gold Pacific Ale 500ml (4.5%): A 'feel good' golden ale that pairs well with a bright sunny day. Brewed with Canterbury wheat and barley malts, it employs a neutral yeast strain for a clean, crisp finish. Low on bitterness, but packed with plenty of fruity hop character.
• 🥇Gold: Behemoth Porch Pounder APA 440ml (5.2%): Porch Pounder brings the hoppy goods without knocking you off your rocking chair. Aromatic, citrus’y and flavourful, it’s the ultimate sidekick to a plate of hot fried chicken.
• 🥇Gold: McLeod’s Blue-Sky APA 440ml (5.3%): This is an American-style Pale Ale with Talus and Citra hops, so you'll get plenty of bright grapefruit over citrus aroma and flavour. It's all balanced on a soft malt base with golden oats for a slightly moreish note and balanced bitterness.

Juicy/Hazy Pale Ale & Juicy/Hazy IPA: Sponsored by Phil Stic & Konvoy 

• 🏆Champion: Canyon Brewing Vacation Hazy Pale Ale 330ml (5.2%): A hazy pale ale with juicy aromas of tropical fruits and citrus. The palate is smooth and creamy, offering flavours of mango, pineapple, and a hint of passionfruit, with a low bitterness and a refreshing finish.
• 🥇Gold: Hop Federation NZH-109 Hazy IPA 440ml (6.0%): Aromas of citrus & stone fruit up front, that’s then followed onto the palate with Nectarines & Peaches, just one big juicy fruit bowl all round, thanks to NZ Hops NZH-109 trial hop in this Hazy IPA.
• 🥇Gold: Parrotdog Limited Release #28 Hazy DIPA 440ml (8.0%): Brewed with Krush, Strata and Citra hops. Prominent tropical and stone fruit hop characters give way to a super soft mouthfeel and low bitterness.   

Massive thanks to the Brewers Guild of New Zealand, all the participating breweries, judges and sponsors involved in this celebration of New Zealand craft beer!

Big Hugs
🍻Team Beer Hug

*Details:

• Cost is $109.95 plus $6.95 shipping (or +$14.95 rural).
• Beers will be shipping daily while stocks last. Track and trace emails will be sent upon dispatch. Our couriers provide contactless delivery for your safety.
• The beers in the box may alter slightly depending on availability. If we need to make a change to the box, we’ll make sure any substitutes are equally awesome!