“We’re pretty sure HopWired is the first bottled new world India Pale Ale made with NZ grown pale ale malt and 100% unique NZ hops. We bet you’ll find nothing else like it on the shelves.Although there’s plenty of malty sweetness, this beer is all about the hops. But unlike an American IPA, which will mainly challenge you with grapefruity and pine-like flavours and aromas, the kiwi hops used in HopWired produce something more like a tropical punchbowl: Passion fruit, limes, oranges and Sauvignon Blanc grapes to name but a few. A local Marlborough winemaker even said it smelled like gooseberries… Gooseberries? When did you last actually smell a gooseberry??Decide for yourself, or just enjoy it without further complication. Cheers!”
We are shocked that we have not reviewed this yet as we drunk it for years, especially when it was first released back around 2009/10. Pours a rich copper/amber with good carbonation and a massive bubbly, foamy head that sits there and eventually shrinks to about 4-5mm. Aromas are typical tropical fruit such as passion fruit, with hints of lime and grapefruit, mild booze and some lemonade. Mouthful is robust ,with solid bitterness. Flavours again of grapefruit, lime, caramel malt, passionfruit. We wonder that there must be either motueka and/or Riwaka hops in here due to this citrus and tropical burst of flavour. There is a real herbal bitterness going on and some drying effect on the palate. There is a slight vinous hit which must be nelson Sauvin hops. As we imbibe, there is patchy lacing on the glass. Even though the punchy hops are dominant, it’s a beautiful drop. It’s well rounded in the mouth and the nice malt to hop ratio, combined with the 7.2% alc vol means you could have two of these before needing to move on. We think 8 wired brewing is in our top five best breweries in NZ, and this is why this beer won the silver medal at the NZ beer awards in 2011.