By Ian Neubauer
Matilda Bay Brewing Company led a charge of Australian brewers that took home nine out of 13 category awards at the 2008 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) in Melbourne last night.
Matilda Bay won trophies in four categories, including Grand Champion Brewery, Champion Large Brewery, Champion Wheat Beer and Champion Reduced Alcohol Beer.
Other noteworthy wins include Billabong Brewery, the pioneer of the brew-on-premise system in Australia, which took home the title for Champion Porter, and Redoak Brewery, which was awarded Champion Small Brewery.
The McLaren Vale Brewing Company’s Vale Ale was presented with the Champion Packaging Trophy, while Woodend’s Holgate Brewhouse’s Big Red Lager was awarded best Victorian beer.
International winners include Wells and Young’s brewing Company from the UK, which was presented the trophy for Champion Stout and named Best New Exhibitor, and Germany’s Weihenstephan Brewery, which took home the
National Liquor News (NLN) Trophy for Champion Specialty Beer. NLN is a sister publication of TheShout.
Now in its 15th year, the AIBA is internationally recognised as the second largest beer awards in the world. The 2008 event saw 1078 entries from 42 counties judged across 53 classes by beer experts from Australia, Romania, Ireland and the Netherlands.