Good berry brew wins trophy for best in class

Good George Brewery has triumphed for the second year in a row at the New Zealand Brewers Guild Awards, taking home 10 medals and one trophy, beating their record of six medals from the previous year.

The trophy for best in class in the flavoured and aged styles was awarded to their Blueberry Gose which, despite the success, Good George managing director Darrel Hadley said came from humble beginnings, with him and his neighbour Dan Peach from Oakberry Farms trading berries for brew over the fence.

"I found a bottle of barrel-aged blueberry beer and bought it home to show Dan. He agreed we should have a go ourselves and to donate some berries for the original brew," Mr Hadley said.

It wasn't long before they realised joining forces might be a winning combination.

"The first night when we released the beer we took the Combi out there to the neighbours and he invited some of his team for drinks in the packing shed."

Hadley took a few different varieties of beer incase the blueberry failed to hit the spot, but his fears were unwarranted.

"I hadn't tested it but they loved it, and these were salt-of-the-earth Waikato farming types who cared a lot about their product."

The first batch was so popular it sold out in hours.

Those who want to try the blueberry beer, they'll have to buy it on tap as it cannot be bottled owing to the high sugar content of the fresh fruit.

"We could pasteurise it, but that would change the taste," said Hadley.

"It has to be a little bit moorish. People wouldn't keep going back to it if it was too sweet."

Hadley said the beer was only in its second batch when it went to the awards but if the flavour became a favourite he would consider adding it to the standard range.

The masterminds behind the beer were brewers Brent Edwards and Scott Sharp-Heward.

Sharp-Heward said one of the key elements was ensuring enough quality fruit to give a distinctive taste - each 25-keg batch required 500kg of fruit.

The other nine medals included golds for the Good George pale ale and Drop Hop cider.

To celebrate Good George's success, we have goodies to give away. We have five dinners for two (consisting of two main meals) at Good George in Frankton and five tours of the brewery - each for four people - to give away. To be in to win, tell us which prize you'd like to win - dinner or the tour, along with your name, address, date of birth and daytime telephone number to hamiltonnews@nzme.co.nz by 4pm, Thursday, October 8.

One entry per person. Entry is open to all people aged 18 and over. NZME. employees and immediate family members are exempt from this competition. Prizes cannot be transferred or redeemed for cash.