Otago Polytechnic’s Otago Brew School, based in Cromwell, has come out shining at the recent New Zealand Brewers Guild Awards, bringing home a swag of medals.
The school entered six categories in the awards and won a silver medal with its "Klassenbester" dunkelweizen and three bronze medals with its "Dark Matter" oatmeal stout, "Brau-schule" Kolsch and "Hidden Number" pale ale.
New Zealand certificate in brewing programme lead Geoff Collie said the win added credibility to the course.
"It’s been great for us - we see it as recognition by our peers in the industry and adds a bit of credibility to the course and the brews that we’re producing.
"It’s great also for my team here, my two tutors - they oversee the day-to-day brewing of these beers and mentor our students in the processes across the year, so good recognition for everyone involved," he said.
"The recipes and ingredients are what would usually be expected for each style.
"We then apply good brewing practice and processes to make the best beer we can."
The students heard news of their win when they returned from holiday on Monday.
"I announced that we picked up four awards and told them that clearly everything we’re telling them isn’t rubbish - nah, they’re pretty happy," he said.
