It’s Choice Beer Week here in Welling­ton and last night The Sut­ton Group Brew­ers Guild of New Zealand Awards took place at the Michael Fowler Cen­tre. Har­ring­ton’s Brew­eries of Christchurch took out the top hon­ours and were named Cham­pi­on Brew­ery in New Zealand for 2012.

Welling­ton, being the self-claimed and now gen­er­al­ly accept­ed Craft Beer Cap­i­tal of New Zealand, was not to be out shone with the ever pop­u­lar Tuatara tak­ing out awards for their Pil­sner, Hefe and for their fan­cy pack­ag­ing.

The two brew­eries Welling­ton can be ultra-proud of are the new kids on the brew­ing block Garage Project and Par­rot­Dog who walked away with the awards for Fes­tive Brew (Ziggy’s Car­rot Cake) and Inter­na­tion­al Ale Styles (Bit­ter­Bitch) respec­tive­ly. Full details of awards are below.

Of course you can get a taste of these brew­eries’ beers on the reg­u­lar at Hashigo Zake but today and tomor­row you can taste their wares at the Beer geek’s mec­ca: Beer­vana.

Beer­vana is where you can live and breathe and drink and learn beer for four hour stints. Not only can you imbibe the nec­tar of the gods but you can attend sem­i­nars giv­en by brew­ers, drinkers, chefs, judges and writ­ers. There’s some­thing for every­one and I know I’ll cer­tain­ly be attend­ing Yvonne Lorkin’s Beer & Food 101 sem­i­nar on Sat­ur­day.

I say get your­selves to Beer­vana and wal­low* in the great­ness that our brew­ers have to offer.

*do not try to lit­er­al­ly wal­low in the beer. Though I have heard it is good for your skin and hair.

The Sut­ton Group Brew­ers Guild of New Zealand Awards

New Zealand Cham­pi­on Brew­ery Har­ring­ton’s Brew­eries

Cham­pi­on Inter­na­tion­al Brew­ery Boston Beer Co

Euro­pean Lager Styles Wigram Brew­ing Com­pa­ny: Munch­n­er Dunkel

Inter­na­tion­al Lager Styles Tuatara Brew­ing Com­pa­ny: Tuatara Pil­sner

British Ale Styles Emer­son­’s Brew­ery: Region­al Best Bit­ter

Oth­er Euro­pean Ale Styles Gold­en Bear Brew­ing: Pirate Peach Sai­son

US Ale Styles Lib­er­ty Brew­ing Co: Yaki­ma Mon­ster

Inter­na­tion­al Ale Styles Par­rot­Dog: Bit­ter­Bitch

Stout & Porter Styles Wigram Brew­ing Com­pa­ny: The Czar

Wheat & Oth­er Grain Styles Tuatara Brew­ing Co Ltd: Tuatara Hefe

Flavoured & Aged Styles (incl. Fruit/Spice/Herb/ Honey/Smoke) Garage Project: Dark Arts

New Zealand Spe­cif­ic Styles Bound­ary Road Brew­ery: NZ Pure

Spe­cial­ty, Exper­i­men­tal, Aged, Bar­rel & Wood-Aged Styles 8 Wired Brew­ing: Grand Cru 2011

Cider & Per­ry Styles Bul­mer Har­vest: Har­vest Pear Cider

Cask Con­di­tioned Town­shend Brew­ery: HM’s Black Strap Porter

Pack­ag­ing Tuatara Brew­ing Com­pa­ny: Tuatara Range

Mor­ton Coutts Tro­phy for Inno­va­tion James (Jim) Pol­litt

Brew­ers Guild New Zealand Beer Writer of the Year 2012 Phil Cook