By James Atkinson
Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) and Casella’s fledgling brand Arvo 51 fought off several household name beers to be declared Best Lager/Pilsener at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show.
Carlton & United Breweries’ Matilda Bay subsidiary picked up a gold medal in the Bohemian Style Pilsener category with its Bohemian Pilsener scoring the same (17 out of 20) as Arvo did in the European Style Lager category, but it was Arvo that was judged worthy of the trophy.
CUB also picked up silver medals for Great Northern, Carlton Dry, Pure Blonde Mid and Matilda Bay Minimum Chips. [continues below]
Redoak Ice Bock was named Grand Champion Beer of Show, which is selected from the gold medal winning exhibits of all classes.
CCA and Casella’s Australian Beer Company (ABC) joint venture also had success with another of its brands, Alehouse Summer Gold, which won Best Reduced Alcohol Beer.
ABC brewmaster Andy Mitchell (pictured) commented: “It’s fantastic to see Arvo being awarded Best Lager and doing so well against popular brands like Carlton Dry and VB. When we created Arvo, we really wanted to create a lager tailored to Australian flavour preferences so it’s great for that to be recognised with these awards.”
The full results are available here.