Craft beer review: Hallertau's Crunchy Nut Kiwi Sour Ale

It's our fifth craft beer review in this week-long series and, today, we head west Auckland to Riverhead's Hallertau.

Beer for breakfast, anyone?

Hallertau's Crunchy Nut Sour is somewhat of a world first. Breakfast cereal powerhouse Kellogg's had never collaborated with a brewery before and chose New Zealand's own Hallertau to create a nutty ale just in time for summer.

To replicate the flavours in the breakfast cereal, Hallertau got through a whole lot of Crunchy Nut boxes, as well as using local kiwifruit, peanuts and honey. It added lactose to give it the milky finish that helps replicate those flavours of the bowl of cereal with milk.

The result is a slightly tart and tangy sour beer that seems to get nuttier and nuttier as you make your way down to the bottom of the glass. The first sip is all about the kiwifruit but the peanuts definitely make an appearance as your tastebuds adjust to the sourness.

It'd need a whole lot more peanuts to get closer to the taste of Crunchy Nut and you have to really be paying attention to get the nuttier notes. Still, it's a well balanced and a strong contender to summer favourite if you're into sour beers.

At 4.6 percent ABV, you could almost get away with having it for breakfast. Almost.