Nelson’s Eddyline wins WCIPA Challenge XV
Nelson brewery Eddyline has won one of the most coveted titles in the New Zealand brewing industry, taking first place in the 15th annual Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge and lifting the Golden Gumboots.
The Challenge has become a major event on the national brewing calendar with the country’s top breweries bringing out their best hop skills and competing to brew the ultimate West Coast IPA for judging at Wellington institution The Malthouse, which organises and hosts the competition.
This year’s event drew 36 entries from across the country and brewers were challenged to use the theme of rock music and classic album covers.
Small family-owned brewery Eddyline was awarded the title for ‘That Eddy’s Drop’. Second place went to Wellington brewery Baylands for ‘The West Coast Electric’ and third to Brave Brewing in Hastings for ‘Here Come The WCIPAs’. The People’s Choice Award went to Auckland’s Liberty Brewing for ‘Firestarter’.
Eddyline chose Kiwi band Fat Freddy’s Drop as the inspiration for their beer. Head brewer Allan Wood says, “I’ve been a massive fan of Fat Freddy’s Drop since they released Based On A True Story in 2005. A super fun album that never fails to lift my spirits. I have the fondest memories of driving to Bethells Beach in my beat up Hillman Hunter, sweating on vinyl seats and listening to ‘Wandering Eye’. It seemed a natural choice as inspiration for our West Coast IPA Challenge beer. A super fun beer. A super fun album.”
The WCIPA win follows a 14-medal haul for Eddyline at the recent NZ Beer Awards, including a gold. The brewery is also building a tasting room and working on becoming sustainable and carbon neutral with a CO2 recapture system (which it says is a first for a New Zealand craft brewery), and 60kW of solar.