YOU don’t call a beer Epic unless you think it’s pretty good. So the brewer of Epic Pale Ale obviously thinks he’s on to something. And so did the judges at the NZ International Beer Awards, where Epic Pale Ale took the Supreme Trophy. It smells fresh, light and hardly "epic". Just a pleasant hint of ruby grapefruit over malt. It’s in the mouth that the beer lives up to its name. It fills every nook and cranny with resinous hop flavours, the like of which I’ve only come across in Emerson’s APA and the limited release Brewjolais from Mac’s....

IS this the best beer in New Zealand? Well, the judges of the New Zealand Beer Awards seem to think so. They awarded Epic Pale Ale Supreme Champion status ahead of 198 other beers at the competition in Nelson a fortnight ago. It was a bold choice. If any beer was going to jump out of the glass, it was Epic – it is extreme, almost explosive, and about as far from the mainstream as it is possible to go: the next step is to stick your head into a sackful of hops. Which is where most beer judges are...

EPIC had already won a Gold Medal in the New World Pale Ale style and the Best in Class for all Pale Ales. The Gold Medal beers from all the classes were then re-judged with EPIC Pale Ale being declared Supreme Champion of the Awards. Scoop

EPIC Pale Ale beat out 198 other beers from 40 international and domestic breweries to be judged the Supreme Champion beer at the 2006 New Zealand International Beer Awards in Nelson on Friday night. EPIC had already won a Gold Medal in the New World Pale Ale style and the Best in Class for all Pale Ales. The Gold Medal beers from all the classes were then re-judged with EPIC Pale Ale being declared Supreme Champion of the Awards. Incredibly, this was the first time EPIC Pale Ale had ever been entered in a beer competition. The beer is brand...

I’ve just returned home from Nelson where I tasted almost 200 beers in just three days! But before you accuse me of reckless alcohol abuse I should probably explain that it was strictly business: I was a member of the judging panel at the 2006 New Zealand International Beer Awards. Working from nine in the morning until after six at night the seven of us - four New Zealanders, two Aussies and an American - sighted, sniffed and slurped our way through no less than 196 beers in forty or so style categories. By the end of the week we’d...