Real Beer News -7 November 2000 - Top Ten Beers from the experts

[Prajna M]

I was thinking about the development of craft beer in NZ, specifically Whitecliffs / Mikes, trying to recall when I first tried. I knew it was sometime in the early 00s (before the first WOMAD in Taranaki in 2003, when I first visited the brewery), but couldn't narrow it down.

 

Anyhow, snooping around online I found a copy of the above article from 2000! 

 

Real Beer News - Sparging Online www.realbeer.co.nz - www.sparging.co.nz

Issue 49 – 17 November 2000 - Top Ten Beers from the experts ********************************************************** 
A new feature just released on the Real Beer Page Australia & New Zealand – Top Ten Beers. http://www.realbeer.co.nz/spotlight/top10/index.html

A group of leading beer experts have rank their top ten beers, and from this we have distilled down the overall top beers available in New Zealand. Find out what the top beers are to drink in New Zealand based on what the experts say. http://www.realbeer.co.nz/spotlight/top10/top10.html

You can also check out what each of the individual experts top ten beers are. Most have also list reasons why or features about the beers that they enjoy. See if you agree.

What are your top ten beers? We want to compile a list of beers from our readers and want to know what your favorite beers are. Head to http://www.realbeer.co.nz/spotlight/top10/survey.html and list your top ten

 

Intruiging!! What did NZ beer geeks value in the days before Yeastie Boys, 8Wired, Croucher, Minumus, Maximus and all the other wonderful beers so easily avaiable today??!! 

I've spent a few days wracking my brain, as I recalled participating in the thread at the time. I've also found the list of winners.

So, what do you reckon (without googling!) the top 10 beers as rated by Real Beer were in 2000? A hint, it was actually  a top 12 and a mix (8:4) of NZ and international beers. Its quite a fun challenge.

 

I'll post the top ten (12) tomorrow.

[Stu McKinlay]

The 8 NZ beers... wild guess

 

Limburg Weizenbock

Mike's Mild Ale

Emerson's London Porter

Galbraith's Bitter and Twisted

Pink Elephant Golden Tusk

Emerson's 1812

Cock and Bull Monk's Habit

Wanaka Brewski

[jt]

Did we still love Mac's in 2000 ?

[Stu McKinlay]

Aro Mac? Maybe...?

I loved Mac's most through the mid-2000's... on tap on the Wellington Waterfront.

[jt]

Yea ok, no top 10 contenders from Macs then ?

 

How about Gizzy Gold ?

[Raffe]

Black Mac, surely? Or Copperhop?
or Mussel Inn Captain Cooker.

[Doublehoppy]

I agree with Copperhop. Hopsmacker. Also Australis Hodgsons Bitter. The exact name escapes me, but the bottled English IPA that Galbraiths brewed for a short time.

[Chris Banks]

Jeez back in 2000 I didnt even like beer I hadnt found a beer that I liked yet - how f*&%$#@! is that?

Cant argue with progress though!!!

[Reviled]

Haha, Im the same as you Chris, occassionally poisoned myself with a Tui or Stella, but that was about it..

[Paul Harrison]

I'm gonna chuck in:

the epic before epic Limburg Hopsmacker

and the when-it-was-good-it-was-great,-when-it-was-bad-it-was-terrible Martinborough White Rock

I'm chucking in Mac's Nelson reserve too

the beer that converted me; cock and bull monks habit.

gonna say tuatara pilsner

 

The year 2000 - I was "not underage" and probably drinking Rhineck or Flame. My guesses are probably more best beer of 2005 when I started to choose beer on flavour over dollar:ABV ratio rather than 2000. I miss the tuatara tasting trays when the malthouse was on willis st. and those hand cut wedges. they were awesome!

[Prajna M]

Here's the results:

ULTIMATE TOP TEN BEERS This is the distilled list of favorite beers from the country's leading beer experts. You can be assured that the beers in this list are great beers but the ones near the top of the list are the best beers you can get. Those at the top of the list make the beverage "BEER" proud of what it is.

1st Place Australis Benediction (Auckland, NZ)

2nd Place Emerson's Organic Pilsener (Dunedin, NZ)

3rd Place = equal Chimay Blue (Belgium) La Chouffe (Belgium) Australis Romanov Stout (Auckland, NZ) Limburg Wit (Hawkes Bay, NZ) Aventinus (Germany)

8th Place = equal Duvel (Belgium) Monteith's Black Beer (Greymouth, NZ) Emerson's Bookbinder (Dunedin, NZ) Steinlager (Auckland, NZ) Thomas Hardy Ale (England) 

 

At the time I would have picked Emmerson's Pilsner and Hopsmacker to be highly rated myself. Bit surprising that the Limburg Wit was selected instead. Also that Galbraiths standard range and Cock & Bull did not rate. I recall being startled, even in 2000, that Steinlager had made a list of NZ's best beers!

 

Belgian beers had obviously started becoming more widely available - there's a few "classics" on the list. I enjoyed La Couffe last summer but, personally, havn't had a Chimay or Duvel for a long time!

 

Here's the link to the page. If you enter "sparging" into the Scoop search facility, you'll be able to find several other newsletters from the time. A fascinating glimpse into recent beer history, that already seems a long, long time ago now.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0011/S00057.htm

Thank you to all the hard-working craft brewers out there. We live in much more exciting times a mere 11 years later!!

[Dominic Kelly]

Hopsmacker probably hadn't come out in 2000. Limburg started with just the three wheat beers.

 

What a stayer Emerson's Pilsner is - still the favourite pilsner of Hashigo Zake's customers in 2010.

[Stu McKinlay]

I was thinknig the same - wit, weiss and weizenbock... I can still remember the excitement of one of my friends, every single time he poured himself a Limburg of any description.