I’ll be honest. I’m struggling. Nine fantastic days in Wellington spent judging at the Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards, hanging out with brewers and beer-lovers alike, attending a fantastic awards ceremony and hanging out at Beervana have all taken their toll on me.
But it was well worth it!
I’ll keep it short and sweet as this blog is a blatant brag 🙂
An IPA wins on International IPA Day!
Epic Armageddon IPA took out the trophy in the US Ale Styles class after picking up a Gold Medal.
Our NZ Craft Beer TV Mash Up took out a Silver Medal in the New Zealand and International Ale Styles class. Who said 44 breweries couldn’t work together?! Not us!!
Epic Thornbridge Stout Brewday (courtesy of Jed Soane http://www.thebeerproject.com)
Epic Thornbridge Stout, brewed in February last year when I was working at Thornbridge took out a Bronze Medal in the Speciality/Experimental/Aged/Barrel & Wood Aged Styles Class. Epic Barrel Aged IPA also did the deed with a Bronze Medal in the same class. The barrels that had been used initially for the IPA then went on to a second fill with the Stout. This beer… our Oak Barrel Aged Epic Thornbridge Stout ended up picking up a Silver Medal! We’re pretty stoked that we decided to call this a Vintage Ale on the label… age has obviously done some great things to this beer as it failed to medal as a younger product in 2010.
First Fill... new oak being filled with Armageddon IPA (photo courtesy of Jed Soane http://www.thebeerproject.com)
A beer that is becoming more of a favourite for me in the Epic range, our Epic Lager also picked up a Silver Medal in the International Lager Styles Class. I was so stoked with this. Due to the dry-hopping, bitterness and big hop notes that this beer has, it’s tough to categorise. I’ll admit that some brewers don’t brew beers according to exacting style characteristics and this is one of them. It makes it a real challenge to get your brew into the correct style category so that judging can be done with similar beers, but we must have nailed it!
Fast becoming my favourite!
Last but not least, the beer that started it all, Epic Pale Ale picked up a Silver Medal in the US Ale Styles class.
Thanks loads to Steam Brewery for looking after our babies so well. A massive congratulations to Søren from 8 Wired Brewing in Blenheim for picking up New Zealand Champion Brewery. Very well deserved!
The secret to Søren's success! (photo courtesy of Jed Soane http://www.thebeerproject.com)
beeRevolution 
Congrats indeed. Love the final pic. Damn BrewGods and their Adonis DNA!
Well done lads! Keep the goodness coming.
Nice one guys! Gonna ask a stupid question, like only I can – any chance of getting any Epic up here?
Hey Malc,
Haven’t looked at UK export as of yet, though it’s on the list. Currency exchange rate definitely not in our favour at this stage. Am actually looking into a few things at the moment, so fingers crossed! Hope all is going well at Fyne Ales… need to come and visit again!
Hi, first time here and I love your blog. I like beer too, we have some great artisan beers in the area of Italy where my Mum lives ( = Kiwi husband very happy) and I am always on the look out for interesting beers in NZ, but don’t know enough, this Epic for example, I didn’t know it, now I will have to look for it :-). Thank you for sharing the info, and how come that beer blogs seem to be so much more fun that wine blogs???
Ciao
Alessandra
Hi Alessandra,
I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. I’ve spent a bit of time in Italy and done a couple of collaboration brews with the fantastic Birrificio Italiano as well as visiting other breweries such as Baladin, Grado Plato and La Gastaldia. Really love the Italian craft beer scene and had a fantastic time meeting lots of people at Salone del Gusto a few years back.
I think beer blogs are more fun than wine blogs because beer is more fun! 🙂
Cheers for commenting and if you get a chance to try any of the Epic beers, would love to know what you think of them.
Grazie mille,
Kelly