By Annette Shailer, editor Beer & Brewer
The winner of the inaugural Beer & Brewer Top 50 Brewpubs for 2016, is Feral Brewing Co. from WA.
Feral narrowly beat The Wheatsheaf Hotel/ Wheaty Brewing Corps for the top spot, followed by 4 Pines BrewPub, The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel and Wayward Brewing Co.
Canberra’s BentSpoke Brewing Co. secured the number six spot, with FogHorn Brewhouse, Two Birds Brewing, Eagle Bay Brewing Co. and Green Beacon Brewing Co. rounding out the top 10.
We decided to launch the Beer & Brewer Top 50 Brewpubs for 2016, which joins our Top 50 Metro Beer Venues and Top 15 Regional Beer Venues lists, as there are now so many breweries with their own impressive bar and food offerings onsite, we felt they deserved to be recognised too.
The list was compiled with the help of 22 industry experts, including the likes of Ian Kingham, Matt Kirkegaard, Kirrily Waldhorn and Tim Charody, aka The Beer Pilgrim. Each expert voted for their five favourite brewpubs, with the scoring weighted so those at the top of the panellists’ lists scored higher than those at the bottom. There was no strict criteria, judges voted based on a range of factors such as the quality of beers, service, staff knowledge, and venue atmosphere.
The Top 20 Brewpubs for 2016 are:
- Feral Brewing Co., Baskerville WA
- The Wheatsheaf Hotel/ Wheaty Brewing Corps, Thebarton SA
- 4 Pines BrewPub, Manly NSW
- The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, The Rocks NSW
- Wayward Brewing Co., Camperdown NSW
- BentSpoke Brewing Co., Braddon ACT
- FogHorn Brewhouse, Newcastle NSW
- Two Birds Brewing, Spotswood VIC
- Eagle Bay Brewing Co., Naturaliste WA
- Green Beacon Brewing Co., Newstead QLD
- Batch Brewing Co., Marrickville NSW
- Modus Operandi Brewing Co., Mona Vale NSW
- Bad Shepherd Brewing Co., Cheltenham VIC
- The Grifter Brewing Co., Marrickville NSW
- The Monk Brewery + Kitchen, Fremantle WA
- Northbridge Brewing Co., Northbridge WA
- Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth VIC
- Temple Brewing Co., Brunswick East VIC
- Young Henrys, Newtown NSW
- Cheeky Monkey Brewery & Cidery, Margaret River WA
The complete list of the top 50 brewpubs, together with judges’ comments, can be found in the Spring Issue of Beer & Brewer, which is on sale now in newsagents, liquor stores and home brewer shops. You can subscribe to Beer & Brewer here.