Tuatara master brewer Carl Vasta led the Paraparaumu-based brewery to winning the supreme award at the Brewers Guild of New Zealand 2016 Beer Awards on Saturday.

Champion New Zealand brewery Tuatara has sparked outrage in the beer community for trying to trademark a hop variety.

The Wellington craft brewer applied to trademark the name amarillo with the Intellectual Property Office.

Amarillo is a United States hop variety used as an ingredient in beer to add bitterness and a citrus aroma.

New Zealand craft brewers have criticised Tuarata on social media for the move and the brewer has since withdrawn the application.

"We've heard the trademarking discussion loud & clear," Tuatara said on Twitter.

If Tuatara's application was successful it would have put restrictions on other brewers being able to use the name amarillo.

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The manager of Wellington craft beer bar Hashigo Zake David Wood was one of the first to notice the application, which was filed on Wednesday.

In this episode of trademark shenanigans: @TuataraBrew try to trade mark 'Amarillo'. What the hell? #NotYoursToOwn pic.twitter.com/o9X6PilYyx — David Wood (@DaveTheBeerGuy) October 13, 2016

Wellington brewer Choice Bros said on Twitter that if the application was successful it would release its own beer called amarillo.

"Hey @TuataraBrew - trademarking 'Amarillo'?! Are you f.....g serious? I will release a beer called 'Amarillo' if you don't withdraw," it said in a tweet.