NZ Herald reporter Belinda Feek and Kevin Holmes discuss the intricacies of everything beer during a tasting of IPAs. Photo / Mike Scott
Herald reporter and beer aficionado Belinda Feek is on a mission - to sample as many fine summer brews as possible and educate her sceptical mate Kevin along the way. Welcome to day four: IPA.
The IPA, the beer that cemented my love of craft brews.
What's not to love about that grassy, citrus bitterness?
As for how IPA-style beer came about, the story is British sailors, while sailing to India, loaded up barrels of beer with hops - hops are a preservative.
The hops were infused with the beer for so long that the beer turned bitter, losing its original fruity flavour.
Many years on and my Christmas Day beer basket is always brimming with IPAs and its cousin, Hazy.
My VB-drinking mate, Kevin Holmes, hadn't delved far into the craft beer scene prior to this mammoth tasting session. In fact, when I would go on about a good beer, he'd always pipe up and say, "ah that stuff's just overpriced homebrew", as he sipped on his VB or Waikato Draught.
But as this tasting session continues, it seems any arm can be twisted.
Let's see what he has to say about today's brew of choice - IPAs.
Its flagship IPA after winning the Champion IPA trophy at the NZ Beer Awards in 2018.
Kevin - "Refreshing with a bit of zing." 4/5
Belinda - "Gutsy, slightly strong in flavour, darker in colour thanks to the malt. The grapefruit citrus lingers nicely." 4/5
Brewed for a collaboration with Proper Crisps new Big Cut chips - honestly the crunchiest chips ever.
Kevin - "Really hits the taste buds. Something special about this one." 4.8/5
Belinda - "Delicious. This will be one of my new go-to beers this summer, for sure. Grassy, bitter goodness." 4.8/5
Massive fruit, pineapple, lime, papaya and underlying spice. Smooth.
Kevin - "Would rank this as a beer for all occasions. Liked it lots." 4/5
Belinda - "Creamy and doesn't taste like a 6.6. Nice one for those who haven't tried IPA before." 4.5/5
IPA looks like a sunset gold, and has aromas of lemon, herbs and fresh-cut hay.
Kevin - "Hits the taste buds big time. A taste of the Waikato right there." 4.5/5
Belinda - "It may smell of fresh-cut hay, but boy, is this delicious. It's not Christmas without one of these." 4.8/5
We love hops and tend to use them a lot in our beers so Something Hoppy was something we wanted to get right.
Kevin - "I'd love to get into Churly's on Dominion Rd and have a glass of this out of the keg. Primo." 4.9/5
Belinda - "First tried this a few years ago and was sold immediately. Flavoursome all-round. You can't go wrong with a Behemoth IPA." 4/5
Why now could be the best time to buy in the holiday town, say agents.