MEDIA RELEASE
Brewers’ Guild of New Zealand
26 May 2014

New Zealand beers strike gold (silver and bronze) in Australia

New Zealand’s beers continue to gather awards at international competitions. The quality of New Zealand beers was recognised at the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) in Melbourne last Friday (23 May).

For the second year in a row Renaissance Brewing Co. of Marlborough won the Champion Small International Brewery. A wide range of breweries from across New Zealand also received gold, bronze and silver medal recognition.

“This is a great achievement for New Zealand beer. It is recognition of the consistent high-quality of our product and the innovation that continues in the industry,” said Ralph Bungard, President of the Brewers’ Guild of New Zealand.

“This comes on the back of New Zealand success at the bi-annual World Beer Cup in the United States. Two New Zealand beers won silver medals, the first medal wins in 14 years for Garage Project’s Cockswain’s Courage Double Barreled Edition Porter and Speights’ Triple Hop Pilsner. The fact that our breweries, from big and small, old and new, continue to win international accolade is fantastic for the health of the brewing industry and the consumer.”

Renaissance Brewing – AIBA 2014 Winner of small international brewery. Credit: AIBA

The AIBA is the largest competition of its kind in the Asia Pacific region and is renowned for celebrating beer and brewing excellence from around the world. There were a record number of entries this year – 1,560 brews from more than 294 brewers in 31 countries.

Australia is the largest market for New Zealand beer exports totaling NZ$27.8million in 2013. Exports to Australia have seen phenomenal growth over the last five years increasing over 115%.

“Success, such as this, can only help our New Zealand beers continue to reach their potential in the Australian market.”

Trans-Tasman rivalry will be at a peak as Australian brewers attempt to repeat New Zealand breweries success at the Brewers’ Guild of New Zealand’s annual beer awards on 21 August in Wellington.

The New Zealand Beer Awards attracts entries from over fifty New Zealand breweries and international entries from North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

For a full list of results see the AIBA website.