Brave Brewery owners Gemma and Matt Smith have added more silverware to their trophy cabinet. Photo / Paul Taylor
Brave Brewery owners Gemma and Matt Smith have added more silverware to their trophy cabinet. Photo / Paul Taylor
By RNZ
A Hawke’s Bay brewer has dominated this year’s beer awards, bagging three of 18 categories – a record in the annual event. It was also named champion brewer.
Hastings brewery Brave Brewing Co has collected five awards, including the top prize of Champion New Zealand Brewing Company, inthis year’s New Zealand Beer Awards.
It also took home Champion New Zealand Small Brewery, International Pale Ale, India Pale Ale and Speciality & Experimental trophies.
It is the first time in 18 years that one brewery has collected three beer category trophies.
The brewery was founded by Matt and Gemma Smith, who started out selling their beer at farmers’ markets in 2013, before shifting to permanent premises in Hastings CBD in 2020.
Gemma Smith told Hawke’s Bay Today the team was rapt. “We are incredibly humbled by the awards and just so proud of our hard-working and dedicated team,” she said.
Judges at the New Zealand Beer Awards in Christchurch. Photo / RNZ
“We showed up hoping to achieve some consistency, and perhaps nab a gold medal for our best-loved beer, Tigermilk IPA. So this has totally blown us away.
“We are a very regionally-focused brewery and Hawke’s Bay consumes most of our beer. We are so incredibly grateful to the people of Hawke’s Bay that have always supported us and cheered us on. They have helped us grow in so many ways.”
It is the first time in 18 years that one brewery has collected three beer category trophies.
Matt Smith said the team had been “hyper-focused” on the “little details” this year and had made “incremental steps towards brewing the best possible beer”.
“So having this feedback from some of the best judging palates in the country and winning these awards has been so validating.”
New Zealand’s brewers are embracing new ingredients and styles, head judge Tina Panoutsos said.
“We’ve seen different ingredients used creatively and represented across a range of styles from fruit and flavoured, European ales and experimental classes.
“There’s a trend toward using a range of fruits like the native Horopito and stone fruits to influence texture and complexity.”
Wellington brewery Garage Project added to its trophy cabinet, collecting four prizes and the highest number of medals of any entrant – 10 gold, 11 silver and six bronze.
Garage Project was also named Champion New Zealand Large Brewery and won two beer category trophies: British & European Ale and Wood & Barrel Aged.
Matakana independent brewery Sawmill won the Brewing Sustainability Award for the sixth consecutive year.
The New Zealand Medium Brewery winner is Altitude Brewing, from Queenstown. Altitude also took home two beer category trophies – New Zealand Lager & New Zealand Pilsner and the Juicy/Hazy IPA Trophy.
New Zealand Beer Awards 2025
Karamu Barrelworks, Champion New Zealand Micro Brewery
Brave Brewing Co, Champion New Zealand Small Brewery
Altitude Brewing, Champion New Zealand Medium Brewery
Garage Project, Champion New Zealand Large Brewery
Brave Brewing Co, Champion New Zealand Brewing Company
