Two local breweries have chalked up top awards in national and international beer competitions. A Belgian-style amber ale, Desperate Glory – Oud Bruin, from Warkworth-based 8 Wired beat more than 600 other brews to be named supreme winner in the recent 2024 New World Beer & Cider Awards. The 8 Wired team’s Lo-Fi Low Carb Raspberry Sour, a 2.
5 per cent ABV low alcohol ale, also made it into the New World Top 30 winning brews, with three others, iStout, Cloud Tripper Hazy IPA and Citrus Maxima Wheat Ale, all highly commended. The New World awards follow 8 Wired being crowned overall winner at the NZ Beer Awards last year and come just weeks after owners Soren and Monique Eriksen put the brewery and Matakana barrel store and tap room up for sale. “We are stoked to continue achieving such recognition – and with the brewery at a crossroads with potential ownership changes, it reinforces the potential for the brand to go from strength to strength.
Watch this space,” Soren said. “The industry has changed drastically over the past decade or so, and continues to become more competitive, so it is particularly rewarding to see our efforts acknowledged at such a high level again.” Meanwhile, Matakana’s Sawmill Brewery scooped a gold medal at one of the world’s biggest beer competitions, the Australian International Beer Awards, in Melbourne last month for its dark beer, Baltic Porter.
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