The small Marlborough brewery, boasting a Danish brewer, 8 Wired Brewing,  has been declared Champion New Zealand Brewer at the Sutton Group Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards judged this week in Wellington.

There were 465 entries for the awards this year, up from 446 last year. This is the 11th year the awards have been held, developing a focus of good brewing practice amongst New Zealand’s steadily expanding beer industry. 8 Wired also boasted the most awarded beer, with its ebullient The Big Smoke taking out two trophies – Flavoured & Aged Styles category, and the Specialty, Experimental, Aged, Barrel & Wood-Aged, Reduced Alc/Carbohydrate & Gluten-Free Styles – the category with the longest title in the competition.

In a competition where the awards were widely dispersed and shared amongst most of the country’s most illustrious brewers, there were few surprises. Even in the concessionary categories for big brewers traditional products, Lion and DB each shared a trophy.

In the New Zealand Lager & Premium Lager category Lion was top dog with its Speight’s Summit Lager, while DB adds the New Zealand Draught award to its trophy cabinet with the misleadingly named, Tui East India Pale Ale.

Doyen of the craft brewing sector, Dunedin’s Emersons matched 8 Wired Brewing’s two category victories with triumphs for its Oreti Red and Black Op.

Related posts:

1. 2010 New Zealand Champion Brewery Winner Announced
2. Sprig and Fern wins big
3. Epic Success At BrewNZ Awards
4. It is official; the Tui Brewery Brews a Bloody Good Drop!
5. Industry Advisory Group appointed for Australian International Beer Awards