A bevy of beer awards have poured into a Richmond-based brewery.
Sprig + Fern Brewing Co tasted victory with 20 gongs at one of the annual celebrations of the country’s brewing sector, the 2024 Brewers Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards on 3 August.
The event, held at Hilton Hotel in Auckland, bottled more than 700 entries from the country’s top brewers.
Sprig + Fern owner and master brewer Tracy Banner says, for 20 of its beers to be recognised, including five with gold and a Best In Class trophy for its German dark lager, The G.O.A.T Doppelbock, was testament to both its brewing and packaging teams.
“It shows just how driven they are about product quality and consistency; we are all so thrilled with our success,” she says.
“To come away with five gold medals, and our Best In Class trophy with our G.O.A.T Doppelbock, it’s our highest awarded beer to date.
“We brew our beers as close to style as possible, and the judges have guidelines that they work to, and [the G.O.A.T Doppelbock] basically ticked all the boxes for style, drinkability, appearance, body and flavour, and so on.”
The G.O.A.T Doppelbock was also one of the five Sprig + Fern beers awarded gold, along with the Smoked Bock, Lock, Bock & Barrel, Monumental American Brown Ale and Best Bitter.
Richmond-based Eddyline Brewery also picked up a gold for its CrankYanker West Coast IPA, and Motueka-based Hop Federation won a gold for its Fields of Green Hazy IPA.
Brightwater’s Clayton Hops was awarded the Morton Coutts Award For Innovation for its Amplifire hop pellets and oil.
