When Epic Armageddon took out the trophy for best Strong Pale Ale at the 2016 Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards last weekend it officially became this country’s most awarded beer. In the 10 years since the Brewers Guild Awards started in 2007, Epic Armageddon has claimed FIVE trophies – in 2009, 2010 (for the barrel-aged version), 2011, 2015 and 2016. No other beer has won five trophies. The next most awarded beers, with four trophies each, are Three Boys Oyster Stout (2007, 2010, 2011 and 2014) and Tuatara Hefe (2009, 2011, 2012, 2016).
Winning the Strong Pale Ale (IPA) category for the second year in a row also continued a remarkable run of success for Armageddon around the world over the past 18 months. In that time, it has claimed five major trophies – twice at the Brewers Guild of NZ Awards, the 2015 Australian International Beer Awards, the 2015 Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival and the 2016 New World Beer and Cider Awards. Author and journalist Michael Donaldson, who took out his second Beer Writer of the Year trophy at the Brewers Guild of NZ Awards, said the unprecedented five trophies at New Zealand’s premier beer awards was enough to justify Armageddon IPA as New Zealand’s best beer. “In my job, writing about beer, I’m often asked `what’s New Zealand’s best beer?’. It’s a question I used to dodge. Finally, I have a definitive answer: Epic Armageddon IPA,” Donaldson said. “It’s hard to argue with the fridge-full of awards this beer has picked up over a prolonged period and in different parts of the world. Quite simply, it’s incomparable.” [caption id="attachment_4465" align="alignleft" width="332"]
Luke with another trophy to add to the collection.[/caption] Brewer Luke Nicholas was delighted with yet another the trophy. “I was actually quite emotional,” Nicholas said of the award. “When it won a fourth trophy inside a year at the New World awards I didn’t think it could get any better than that. I’ve now literally run out of adjectives to describe how proud I feel. “Beer awards, especially in the fiercely-contested IPA category, can often feel like a lottery so the fact Armageddon consistently comes out on top proves just how good it is.”
ARMAGEDDON’S AMAZING RUN 2016 BEST IPA – NZ Beer Awards 2016 BEST IPA – New World Beer Awards 2015 BEST IPA – NZ Beer Awards 2015 BEST IPA – Australian International Beer Awards 2015 BEST IPA – Stockholm Beer & Whiskey Festival 2013 BEST IPA – Systembolaget, Sweden 2012 BEST BEER IN NZ – Beer & Brewer Magazine 2011 BEST IPA – NZ Beer Awards 2010 BEST BARREL AGED BEER – NZ Beer Awards 2009 BEST IPA – NZ Beer Awards
