“South of Piha there’s a long black sand beach. Hidden behind the dunes is a beautiful valley of cascading waterfalls, lush rainforest and craggy cliffs. In 2018 the valley was closed to prevent the spread of Kauri Dieback disease that is killing our beautiful trees.  We hope you enjoy this Riwaka single hop NZ Pale Ale, brewed for our friend the Kauri.”

Glassware: Shaker

Appearance: Bright amber with almost full transparency. Two fingers of finely beaded foam. Good retention and good lacing down the glass.

Aroma: We love this luscious green character that seems to be an underlying quality in most Kiwi hops. Kind of reminds us of dense rainforest. Lots of dank herbs, gooseberry, white grapes, mandarin, lime and dried tea leaf in support. The malt bill is pretty clean with a very mild sweetness. Certainly has that funky Kiwi nature.

Flavour: It opens with strong grassy/evergreen notes, green fruits – grapes, gooseberry, kiwifruit, lime – alongside herbal spice and green tea. Pretty much like taking a trip to green town. Picking up more citric bitterness late in the piece as it rolls in to a fairly dry and resinous finish with lengthy bitterness in the tail.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, well rounded, slight bitterness in the swallow. We were a little surprised to see the 5.6% ABV…it’s nicely hidden.

Overall: A decent enough beer but it’s hardly memorable. A little run of the mill if you will. Keen to see their next release.