August 2, 2025 • 7 mins
The 2025 New Zealand Beer Awards recently took place, with the best in local beer being celebrated and appreciated by experts.
25 trophies were handed out - selected from 625 beers submitted from 70 different breweries.
Head judge of the awards, Tina Panoutsos, has spent many years in the industry and she says New Zealand-produced beer is on par with the best in the world.
"I think New Zealanders are spoilt for choice when it comes to ingredients, roots, herbs - we saw quite a number of different beers presented with quite different ingredients."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks edb Right.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
The best in local beer was celebrated last night at
the New Zealand Bear Awards. Twenty five trophies were handed out,
selected from six hundred and twenty five bears submitted from
seventy different breweries. Head judge of the awards is Tina Peranutzis.
Tina is a global beer judge with many years experience
in the industry and she joins me now to talk
about how the can We Bear stacks up?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Tina, Good morning, Good morning, Francesca. Lovely to be to you.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
So you have judged beer competitions globally, including the World
Beer Cup. Where does New Zealand rank in terms of
the quality of beer?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I have judged a number of competitions and I'd have
to say New Zealand stands up against any of the
competitions or at the Bear stand up against any of
the competitions that I've judged before and from a quality standard,
They're definitely on part without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
What did you see from entries at these awards? How
are brewers pushing the boundaries?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I think I think New Zealand is a spot for
choice when it comes to ingredients, fruits, herbs. We saw
quite a number of different bees presented with quite different ingredients,
some of them I had never heard of, some local
native plants and so on. But I think the testament
(01:35):
to the brewers here in New Zealand is that the
way in which they integrate a lot of the different
ingredients based on traditional styles with absolute for nests and
integrity throughout the whole brew. It really is a testament
to how well balanced some of these bees are, and
(01:55):
they execute them quite well to get the aurona upfront
and then follow through with a palette so that what
you're reading or expecting from the beer is what you're
actually going to get. So it was a really great
expression of creativity and innovation. I have to say.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Brave Brewing Company. They took a top award last night.
What sits that they did from the.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Rest, That's really difficult to say, Francesca. I think a
lot of times when breweries really excel and taking a
raft of different medals, a lot of it has to
do with their precision and their attention to detail and quality.
(02:38):
And I think what would have come through from Brave
Brewing is that attention to detail. So the sheer excellence
in the quality of the beer that they presented, not
to say that others didn't, but it was just a
range of different beers that they entered into the competition
that really stood them above above others. So they did
(02:58):
really really well. Congratulations to the whole team, and they're
quite It was really humbling to see them up on
stage and be very passionate and very emotional about their wings.
So really really well deserved.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And then we've got a brewery like Garage Project and
they seem to have been dominant in the industry for
so long. They were one of the first on the
craft beer scene. They took home four trophies and the
highest number of medals. What makes them so.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Good again, innovation and creativity, you know, really pushing the
boundaries on the way in which they express different styles
and introduced different tweaks to beers that will heighten people's
attention and curiosity. So they're always pushing the boundaries, that's
(03:45):
for sure. And they do have an excellent quality standard
as well.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Tina, is the craft beer industry still going strong. I'm
sure my listeners will tell me if it is or
is it? But there was that sort of initial boom
and the market then became quite saturated. Where's that industry
at Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Look, Princescurry, it still is. I think the whole alcohol
industry has sort of seen a bit of a lull.
People's preferences, choices, lifestyles making an impact on the alcohol industry.
But we asked you'll seeing what's healthy is that there
is still a lot of passion and there's still a
lot of interest. So supply and demand people if the
(04:27):
brewers can bru everything that they can, and the craftsmanship
across the industry is really well regarded. But if you're
not going to get anyone to drink them, no one's
going to be making them. But we still are, so
there still is that interest. But people's occasions are slightly changing,
and I think what's really healthy is that we're looking
(04:48):
at beer a little bit differently to just being one
or two occasions on a hot day or pretty generic.
The occasions for where we're drinking beer are starting to expand.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
And is there an increased focus on low or no
alcohol beers because gos, they've come a long way.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
They have If you asked me about six years ago.
I would have thought we were crazy going down this stuff,
but honestly it's one of and the quality of these
lower and alcohol. They're not easy to make, but the
way in which they're coming across now the technical capability
in brewing these beers is making sure that you're as
(05:29):
a consumer, you're not missing out or you're not feeling
like it's a compromise. So they are increasing in popularity.
It's a slow progression, but they're definitely here to stay.
And the variety across the portfolio as far as different styles,
is really starting to become more prominent. And it's not,
(05:52):
as I said, something that you just have to do
because you're trying to moderate. There is a breadth of
choice in the styles that are being produced, so they're
definitely here to stay.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
How does the judging work. We had the heat judge
of the ice Cream Awards on a couple of weeks
ago and we learned that they eat chips in between
ice cream to cleanse the palette. Is there anything similar
when it comes to.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Beer, Yeah, definitely. I think what you've got to remember
is in any competition, if you're tasting something continuously, your
palette will ultimately become saturated. So in any competition beer, wine,
ice cream, what you've got to be able to cleanse
(06:37):
your palette. So with the chips, it'd be the salt
is negating the sweetness. With beer, we tend to sort
of make sure that we're having something neutral like crackers
sometimes in the bigger beers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Sorry, not half as exciting as.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Simple, but we could be tasting anywhere between fifty and
sixty beers a day, and that in that you want
to make sure judges the emphasis is that all the
judges have a strong capability in knowing how beer is produced,
the raw materials, the sensory aspects, the tasting techniques, and
what they do is past themselves so that they're able
(07:16):
to look at the first beer and evaluate that as
equally as what they do the last beer. So there's
no compromise in what part of the day. So well,
there are different techniques.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
As they say, Tina, practice makes perfect. Thank you so
much for your time in talking us through that, and
congratulations to all the winners at last night's New Zealand
Beer Awards.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news talks. It'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks edb Right.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
The best in local beer was celebrated last night at
the New Zealand Bear Awards. Twenty five trophies were handed out,
selected from six hundred and twenty five bears submitted from
seventy different breweries. Head judge of the awards is Tina Peranutzis.
Tina is a global beer judge with many years experience
in the industry and she joins me now to talk
about how the can We Bear stacks up?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Tina, Good morning, Good morning, Francesca. Lovely to be to you.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
So you have judged beer competitions globally, including the World
Beer Cup. Where does New Zealand rank in terms of
the quality of beer?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I have judged a number of competitions and I'd have
to say New Zealand stands up against any of the
competitions or at the Bear stand up against any of
the competitions that I've judged before and from a quality standard,
They're definitely on part without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
What did you see from entries at these awards? How
are brewers pushing the boundaries?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I think I think New Zealand is a spot for
choice when it comes to ingredients, fruits, herbs. We saw
quite a number of different bees presented with quite different ingredients,
some of them I had never heard of, some local
native plants and so on. But I think the testament
(01:35):
to the brewers here in New Zealand is that the
way in which they integrate a lot of the different
ingredients based on traditional styles with absolute for nests and
integrity throughout the whole brew. It really is a testament
to how well balanced some of these bees are, and
(01:55):
they execute them quite well to get the aurona upfront
and then follow through with a palette so that what
you're reading or expecting from the beer is what you're
actually going to get. So it was a really great
expression of creativity and innovation. I have to say.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Brave Brewing Company. They took a top award last night.
What sits that they did from the.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Rest, That's really difficult to say, Francesca. I think a
lot of times when breweries really excel and taking a
raft of different medals, a lot of it has to
do with their precision and their attention to detail and quality.
(02:38):
And I think what would have come through from Brave
Brewing is that attention to detail. So the sheer excellence
in the quality of the beer that they presented, not
to say that others didn't, but it was just a
range of different beers that they entered into the competition
that really stood them above above others. So they did
(02:58):
really really well. Congratulations to the whole team, and they're
quite It was really humbling to see them up on
stage and be very passionate and very emotional about their wings.
So really really well deserved.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And then we've got a brewery like Garage Project and
they seem to have been dominant in the industry for
so long. They were one of the first on the
craft beer scene. They took home four trophies and the
highest number of medals. What makes them so.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Good again, innovation and creativity, you know, really pushing the
boundaries on the way in which they express different styles
and introduced different tweaks to beers that will heighten people's
attention and curiosity. So they're always pushing the boundaries, that's
(03:45):
for sure. And they do have an excellent quality standard
as well.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Tina, is the craft beer industry still going strong. I'm
sure my listeners will tell me if it is or
is it? But there was that sort of initial boom
and the market then became quite saturated. Where's that industry
at Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Look, Princescurry, it still is. I think the whole alcohol
industry has sort of seen a bit of a lull.
People's preferences, choices, lifestyles making an impact on the alcohol industry.
But we asked you'll seeing what's healthy is that there
is still a lot of passion and there's still a
lot of interest. So supply and demand people if the
(04:27):
brewers can bru everything that they can, and the craftsmanship
across the industry is really well regarded. But if you're
not going to get anyone to drink them, no one's
going to be making them. But we still are, so
there still is that interest. But people's occasions are slightly changing,
and I think what's really healthy is that we're looking
(04:48):
at beer a little bit differently to just being one
or two occasions on a hot day or pretty generic.
The occasions for where we're drinking beer are starting to expand.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
And is there an increased focus on low or no
alcohol beers because gos, they've come a long way.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
They have If you asked me about six years ago.
I would have thought we were crazy going down this stuff,
but honestly it's one of and the quality of these
lower and alcohol. They're not easy to make, but the
way in which they're coming across now the technical capability
in brewing these beers is making sure that you're as
(05:29):
a consumer, you're not missing out or you're not feeling
like it's a compromise. So they are increasing in popularity.
It's a slow progression, but they're definitely here to stay.
And the variety across the portfolio as far as different styles,
is really starting to become more prominent. And it's not,
(05:52):
as I said, something that you just have to do
because you're trying to moderate. There is a breadth of
choice in the styles that are being produced, so they're
definitely here to stay.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
How does the judging work. We had the heat judge
of the ice Cream Awards on a couple of weeks
ago and we learned that they eat chips in between
ice cream to cleanse the palette. Is there anything similar
when it comes to.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Beer, Yeah, definitely. I think what you've got to remember
is in any competition, if you're tasting something continuously, your
palette will ultimately become saturated. So in any competition beer, wine,
ice cream, what you've got to be able to cleanse
(06:37):
your palette. So with the chips, it'd be the salt
is negating the sweetness. With beer, we tend to sort
of make sure that we're having something neutral like crackers
sometimes in the bigger beers.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Sorry, not half as exciting as.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Simple, but we could be tasting anywhere between fifty and
sixty beers a day, and that in that you want
to make sure judges the emphasis is that all the
judges have a strong capability in knowing how beer is produced,
the raw materials, the sensory aspects, the tasting techniques, and
what they do is past themselves so that they're able
(07:16):
to look at the first beer and evaluate that as
equally as what they do the last beer. So there's
no compromise in what part of the day. So well,
there are different techniques.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
As they say, Tina, practice makes perfect. Thank you so
much for your time in talking us through that, and
congratulations to all the winners at last night's New Zealand
Beer Awards.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news talks. It'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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