By Andy Young
The champion and major trophy winners of the 2015 Australian International Beer Awards were named at the presentation dinner, which took place at Peninsula in Melbourne last night.
Victoria's Mountain Goat Beer, with its Barley Wine – Barrel Beer was named as the Champion Australian Beer. The Champion International Beer award went to Lion Beer Spirits Wine, New Zealand for its Speight’s 5 Malt Old Dark.
This year’s awards attracted a record number of entries with more than 1,700 submissions from 344 exhibitors, across 35 countries received. In total 28 Champion and Major trophies were awarded.
The Champion Large Brewery trophy was awarded to 4 Pines, with the team saying it was "humbled" to have won the trophy. The Champion Medium and Small Australian Brewery trophies were awarded to Thunder Road Brewing Company and Boatrocker Brewing Company, respectively.
Head Judge Warren Pawsey said: "We have been extremely impressed by the high quality product coming through, and 2015's pool of entrants has not disappointed."
Full details of all the AIBA award winners are listed below.
2015 Australian International Beer Awards – Champion Trophy Winners
- Barrett Burston Malting Trophy for Champion Australian Beer: Barley Wine – Barrel Breed (Draught) – Mountain Goat Beer, VIC
- ExpoNet Trophy for Champion International Beer: Speight’s 5 Malt Old Dark (Packaged) – Lion Beer Spirits Wine, NZ
- GrainCorp Trophy for Champion Large Australian Brewery: 4 Pines Brewing Company, NSW
- Barrett Burston Malting Trophy for Champion Large International Brewery: Brouweris De Halve Maan, Belgium
- Kegstar Trophy for Champion Medium Australian Brewery: Thunder Road Brewing Company, VIC
- Federation University Australia Trophy for Champion Medium International Brewery: Pelican Pub & Brewery, USA
- FB*PROPAK Trophy for Champion Australian Small Brewery: Boatrocker Brewing Company, VIC
- City of Ballarat Trophy for Champion International Small Brewery: ParrotDog Brewing, NZ
- Gary Sheppard Memorial Trophy for Best New Exhibitor: Yantai Platinum Brewing Company, China
- AIBA Media Award presented by The Crafty Pint: Luke Robertson, Ale of a Time
2015 Australian International Beer Awards – Major Trophy Winners
- Bargo Events Trophy for Best Australian Style Lager: 333 Premium Export – Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp, Vietnam
- Federation University Australia Trophy for Best European Style Lager: Byron Bay Premium (Draught) – The Byron Bay Brewing Co, NSW
- Hellman Beverage Logistics Trophy for Best International Lager: Red Horse Extra Strong Brew (Packaged) – San Miguel Beer Limited, Philippines
- City of Ballarat Trophy for Best International Pale Ale: Anytime IPA (Draught) – Temple Brewing Company, VIC
- The Post Project Trophy for Best Australian Style Pale Ale: Sandman (Draught) – The Byron Bay Brewing Co, NSW
- Time Out Trophy for Best British Style Ale: Fuller’s 1845 Celebration Strong Ale (Packaged) – Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC, UK
- Bargo Events Trophy for Best European Style Ale: Sporting Ale (Draught) – Thirsty Crow, NSW
- Kegstar Trophy for Best IPA: Epic Armageddon IPA (Draught) – Epic Brewing Company, NZ
- Cryermalt Trophy for Best Amber/Dark Ale: Speight’s 5 Malt Old Dark (Packaged) – Lion Beer Spirits Wine, NZ
- Weyermann Specialty Malts Trophy for Best Porter: Temptress (Draught) – Holgate Brewhouse, VIC
- Spiegelau Trophy for Best Stout: Monteith’s Velvet Stout (Packaged) – DB Draught Brewery, NZ
- Beer DeLuxe Trophy for Best Wheat Beer: Weihenstephan Kristall Weissbier (Packaged) – Weihenstephan, Germany
- Brewtique Trophy for Best Belgian & French Style Ale: Mad Abbot Christmas Ale 2013(Packaged) – The Little Brewing Company, NSW
- RASV Trophy for Best Scotch & Barley Wine: Barley Wine – Barrel Breed (Draught) – Mountain Goat Beer, VIC
- Plasdene Glass-Pak Trophy for Best Specialty Beer: Red Rock Paardebloem (Packaged) – Red Rock Brewing Co, USA
- RASV Trophy for Best Reduced/Low Alcohol: ClippedWing (Packaged) – ParrotDog Brewing, NZ
- ExpoNet Trophy for Best Pilsner: Trumer Pils (Draught) – Trumer Australia, VIC
- Brewtique Trophy for Best Packaging: Bastard Children of the British Empire (Set of 6 Bottles) – 4 Pines Brewing Company, NSW
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