When they first gained popularity, craft beers were all about hefty big alcohol beers that packed a punch, now we’re charting the emergence of flavoursome yet sessionable craft beers across New Zealand.

“It’s about still having full flavoured beers without the high alcohol and bitterness,” explains Blair Harley, sales manager at Tuatara Brewing Co., who are leading the trend here. “One of the key words is ‘approachable’, which is really to do with the bitterness. A lot of the time these beers are much lower in bitterness than a normal IPA.”

BIG EASY

Tuatara’s new Coastin’ Session IPA is a sessionable beer made with a good balance of New Zealand hops without the bitter edge. Harley explains that where a beer like Tuatara’s Tomahawk sits at around 50 IBU (international bitterness units), Tuatara’s new Coastin’ comes in with half the IBUs at 25-26. Likewise, a session beer typically comes in no higher than 5% ABV (Tuatara Coastin’ is 4.6%), and has a clean finish on the palate that allows for laidback drinking.

“A lot of consumers love the aroma and flavour of craft beers, but they don’t like the bitterness. Coastin’ delivers more hop flavour than other easy drinking styles, but without the bitterness attached.”

Instead of bitterness, Coastin’ has flavours of light tropical fruits like melon and mango, and crisp fruity hop flavours. It’s refreshing and invigorating on the nose, with a nice balance of citrus aromas. “It’s the perfect beer for those summer occasions, kicking back, taking things easy and having a couple of quiets with your mates,” says Harley.

Currently Tuatara Coastin’ is exclusive to Liquorland stores nationwide.