The Brewers Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards are held in high esteem due to a world class selection of top shelf judges from a range of diverse backgrounds. In 2025, the NZ Beer Awards attracted more than 650 entries from 70 breweries competing across 25 categories, with a total of 15 trophies and 500 medals awarded.
Brave Brewing Co took home 5 awards including the top-gong for Overall Champion New Zealand Brewery and International Pale Ale, proudly sponsored by HPA. The Hawke’s Bay craft brewery pride themselves on their passion to create really good beer. After giving them time to celebrate their awards, we got in touch with founders Matt and Gemma Smith to congratulate the team and ask a few questions about their beers.
Q: Congrats on your recent success at the 2025 NZ Beer Awards. You went home with 5 awards including Overall Champion NZ Brewery, Champion NZ Small Brewery, IPA, International Pale Ale, and Speciality/Experimental. What does this recognition mean to you?
A: We were incredibly humbled by the awards and so grateful to the industry for the love that was shown towards our little brewing team. It’s great to have such positive feedback from some of the best judges/palates in the business. It is incredibly validating, as the team has been putting a lot of effort into the little details and deep diving into producing top quality beer.
Q: You also become the first brewery 18 years to win 3 beer category trophies in a single year, alongside earning 8 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze medals. What’s the secret to making award-winning beers across multiple categories?
A: I couldn’t say for sure what it was that really stood out to the judges, but my focus over the last year has been on nailing all of the brewing basics, fierce attention to all of the little details, and small incremental recipe or process tweaks from batch to batch towards improving our beer.
Q: Of all your beers that medalled, which 3 mean the most to you and why?
A: Tigermilk IPA winning gold was a highlight for sure. It has only ever received a bronze or silver. This is our flagship beer and people adore it. Stay Gold winning a fifth gold medal and taking out the trophy for its category was also huge. And finally, it was really great to see our special release True-Blue win a gold medal and the trophy for its category. It’s a lovely West Coast Pilsner.
Q: On the journey from homebrewer to award-winning craft brewery, what’s the biggest milestone you’ve celebrated?
A: Last year we ticked over ten years in business. That was a pretty cool milestone, but we’d have to say that this awards showing probably takes the cake. It’s so rewarding to see the hard work of our brewing team recognised. But also, just having a viable business during such tough times feels like a big milestone and a real privilege too.
Q: Have you had the chance to try any Aussie hops and if yes, which ones stand out to you?
A: It would have to be Galaxy, especially when it leans heavily towards ripe/sweet tropical fruit. Our trophy winning Stay Gold XPA, which we’ve been making for 10 years now, was originally inspired by Stone & Wood’s Pacific Ale, which uses 100% Galaxy.
