Beer Necessities tasting session: XPA, Hazy Pale Ales, Hazy IPAs, and Pale Ales

Discover Aotearoa's top brews, chosen by our 10 specialist beer judges.

Featured in Capital #73
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Check out our other top picks here:

Best in class 2020

Session Ale, Lager, and New Zealand Pilsner

Dark Lager, Porter, Stout, and the variations

IPA, Belgian, and Scotch

Bring on those lazy hazy pale ale days of summer! The Hazy Pales Ales and IPAs hit you with their fruity aroma, the XPAs are a refreshing summer tipple, and the Pale Ales are so drinkable you have to have more than one.

Abandoned Brewery
Doof Juice
XPA

This beer pours straw-coloured and with a slight haze. There were tropical notes on the aroma, and passionfruit and mango flavours. It was light and spritzy and will be easy summer drinking.

abandonedbrewery.nz

Tuatara Brewery
Hazy Pale Ale
Hazy Pale Ale

Available in a six-pack, this beer presented with orange and mango aromas and flavours. It was juicy with a nice bitter finish, making it a very drinkable beer.

tuatarabrewing.co.nz

Abandoned Brewery
Hazy #3
Hazy IPA

With a milky looking haze, this beer had stone fruit and mango characters on the aroma and in the flavour. It finished slightly sweet.

abandonedbrewery.nz

Three Sisters Brewery
Sup Bro
Hazy IPA

There were peaches, kiwifruit, and citrus characters to this tropical beer. It had a nice hazy appearance and poured with a good head. There was a slight alcohol sweetness on the finish.

threesistersbrewery.store

Emerson’s Brewery
Hazed and Confused
Hazy IPA

Scoring the same as last year, this reliable beer presented with orange, mango, and pine characters. It is easy-drinking and balanced, sitting somewhere between pale ale and IPA.

emersons.co.nz

Mount Brewing Company
Crazy Hazy Daze
Hazy Pale Ale

This beer was peachy in appearance, with pineapple aromas. It had a juicy mouthfeel, with pineapple, mango, and grape flavours entwined with an earthy hop bitterness.

mountbrewingco.com

Mean Doses Brewery
Mean Juice
Hazy Pale Ale

This beer poured pale yellow and truly hazy. It had a subtle citrus and stone-fruit aroma, with orange juice flavours and a thick, rounded mouthfeel.

meandoses.co.nz

Sunshine Brewery
Pale Ale
American Pale Ale

The beer poured delightfully bright. There were lychees and lemon on the nose, with lemon and mandarin flavours woven with honey-like malt characters. It was spritzy and easy drinking.

sunshinebrewing.co.nz

Tuatara Brewery
Aotearoa Pale Ale
NZ Pale Ale

The only New Zealand Pale Ale to rate, this is a classic beer with a solid malt backbone and gooseberry hop aromas. It has a balanced, rounded mouthfeel that finishes quickly.

tuatarabrewing.co.nz

Tuatara Brewery
Tuatara APA
American Pale Ale

Clear and honey-like in hue, this beer had lightly toasted, bready malts, with notes of lemon and earth on the aroma. The flavours combined oranges and lemons, and a light malt sweetness.

tuatarabrewing.co.nz

Fortune Favours Brewery
The Possessed
American Pale Ale

Clear and honey-like in hue, this beer had lightly toasted, bready malts, with notes of lemon and earth on the aroma. The flavours combined oranges and lemons, and a light malt sweetness.

fortunefavours.beer

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