In the annual 2009 Beer Necessities Awards, run by Wellington's Capital Times, The Croucher Brewing Company's flagship Pale Ale beer has been named in the Top 8 beers in New Zealand.
Represented in the top eight are New Zealand’s largest brewer Lion Nathan, one of the country’s biggest independent craft brewers Emerson’s, a small craft brewer, Croucher Brewing, one of the new generation of contract brewing companies, 8 Wired and a tiny farmhouse brewer, Peak.
The beers were blind judged on their appearance, aroma and flavour with some thought given to their stylistic integrity. Here are the judges comments about Croucher Pale Ale:
Croucher Pale Ale pours a nice clear gold with a quickly dissipating head. Aroma features some fresh zesty perfumy citrus hop notes and a rich toffee note. In the mouth there is plenty of perfumy hop flavour with a big slightly early bitter finish. Good beer that could use a touch more malt balance.Croucher Brewing have been building up a reputation for their range of pale, complex, aromatic beers which they brew in Rotorua making them one of the few craft brewers to fly the flag for brewing in the North Island.
Brewer Paul Croucher responded to news of the award saying "We are over the moon, this is a great result for us. To be listed in the top beers in New Zealand is further reward for all the hard work of the past few years. The Pale Ale was the beer we launched the brewery with, so it has a special place in our hearts. Our Pale Ale has massive up front fruit aroma with strong freshly crushed grain. Passionfruit and lychees predominate with a stonefruit undertone - fruit salad on Weetbix. It is very smooth with a gorgeous lingering finish."
Beer Necessities Survey 2009 - The 8 Pack (highest rating beers this year):
Emerson’s - Pilsner
Emerson’s - Pilsner
Emerson’s - Bookbinder
Emerson’s - 1812
Emerson’s - Old 95
Steinlager Pure
Croucher Brewing - Pale Ale
8 Wired - Hop Wired IPA
Peak Brewery - Great End ESB
Croucher Brewing - Pale Ale
8 Wired - Hop Wired IPA
Peak Brewery - Great End ESB
Croucher Brewing is based in Rotorua and has been brewing for five years. It is owned and run by Paul Croucher and Nigel Gregory. The company produces three main beers; Croucher Pale Ale, Croucher Pilsner (a particularly hoppy lager) and Croucher Hef (a cloudy German style wheat beer). On top of these Croucher Brewing currently has two seasonal beers in limited availability; Vicar's Vice - a big flavoured Belgian style brewed using a bucket load of NZ cirtus peel and a kilo of crushed coriander seeds (7% alc); and a Cherry Bock - an extremely fruity dark lager style of beer brewed using a 60kg of Cherries and Raspberries (8% alc).
Croucher Brewing opened it's own craft beer bar in Rotorua in May 2009. The Underground Bar (underneath the Rendezvous Restaurant on Hinemoa Street, Rotorua) was set up to lead the revitalisation of beer in Rotorua one pint at a time. Craft beer has the charachteristics of being flavoursome, interesting, great matched with food and is a high quality beverage. The Underground Bar stocks the full range of Croucher beers on tap, as well as an ever changing selection of other fantastic New Zealand craft beers.
