The winners of the 2018 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) were revealed in Melbourne last night, with Beerland Brewing taking out the Champion Australian Beer award for its Beerland Wheat Beer (Draught) – Beerland’s Ken Arrowsmith is pictured above with the award.
Now in its 26th year the AIBA are recognised as the largest annual beer competition in the world. This year saw 2178 draught and packaged beer entries across a wide range of categories.
“Interest in AIBA continues to grow – this year we had entries from 28 countries and almost every state of Australia. We also added new sub-classes to the competition to ensure we are adjusting to the trends of the expanding beer market,” said Paul Guerra, CEO, The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV).
Arrowsmith, Beerland Brewing’s Master Brewer who’s well known in Western Australia as the face of Emu Bitter, was understandably delighted with the win, saying: “For Beerland Brewing to be recognised as one of the best in our industry with such a prestigious award is both extremely humbling and delightfully surprising.
“Our talented team has been working very hard to craft a unique core range of Beerland Beer at our breweries. Australia’s craft beer culture has become extremely sophisticated since we opened our doors in Northbridge four years ago. We are excited that our range lives up to these expectations and we’re now able to get creative with our small batch seasonal brews and uncover some amazing gems in the process,” he said.
Other major honours on the night included Champion International Beer, which went to California-based brewery Three Weavers Brewing Company for their Knotty (Packaged) beer; the beer also won the Best IPA.
Champion Large Australian Brewery went to Mountain Goat and Firestone Walker Brewing Co. from California, were awarded Champion Large International Brewery.
Green Beacon Brewing Co, from Queensland were awarded Champion Medium Australian Brewery, with German Mahrs Bräu Bamberg GMBH awarded Champion Medium International Brewery.
Queensland’s wins continued with Champion Small Australian Brewery won by Black Hops Brewing, while New Zealand took home the last of the Champion brewery honours with Kereru Brewing Company Limited, awarded Champion Small International Brewery.
Nineteen major trophies were also awarded across the various beer styles, with nine awarded to international breweries, four to New South Wales-based breweries, two each to Victorian and Western Australian breweries and one each to breweries from Queensland and Tasmania.
The awards are conducted by the RASV, with a panel of close to 80 international and local judges assessing entries over three days at the Melbourne Showgrounds last week.
2018 Australian International Beer Awards
CHAMPION TROPHIES
Champion Australian Beer presented by Barrett Burston Malting Co & Cryer Malt
- Beerland Wheat Beer (Draught) – Beerland Brewing, Whitfords WA, Australia
Champion International Beer presented by RASV
- Knotty (Packaged) – Three Weavers Brewing Company, California, USA
Champion Large Australian Brewery presented by Barrett Burston Malting Co
- Mountain Goat Beer Pty Ltd, Vic, Australia
Champion Large International Brewery presented by Hop Products Australia on behalf of Barth Haas Group
- Firestone Walker Brewing Co., California, USA
Champion Medium Australian Brewery presented by CryerMalt
- Green Beacon Brewing Co, QLD, Australia
Champion Medium International Brewery presented by RASV
- Mahrs Bräu Bamberg GMBH, Franconia/Bavaria, Germany
Champion Small Australian Brewery presented by FB*PROPAK
- Black Hops Brewing, QLD, Australia
Champion Small International Brewery presented by RASV
- Kereru Brewing Company Limited, Wellington, NZ
Gary Sheppard Memorial Trophy for Best New Exhibitor
- Brownstone Microbrewery, Vic, Australia
Australian Gypsy Brewer Award presented by FB*PROPAK
- Philter Brewing, NSW, Australia
MAJOR TROPHIES
Best Australian Style Lager presented by RASV
- Hawke’s Lager (Draught) – Hawke’s Brewing Co., NSW, Australia
Best European Style Lager (excluding Pilsner) presented by RASV
- Firestone Lager (Packaged) – Firestone Walker Brewing Co., California, USA
Best International Lager presented by RASV
- Dagon Lager Beer (Draught) – Dagon Beverages Co., Ltd., Myanmar
Best Pilsner presented by Brews News
- Moo Brew Pilsner (Draught) – Moo Brew, Tasmania, Australia
Best Amber / Dark Lager presented by Hopco
- Hunter Bock (Draught) – Hunter Beer Co., NSW, Australia
Best Australian Style Pale Ale presented by Plasdene Glass-Pak Pty Ltd
- Philter XPA (Packaged) – Philter Brewing, NSW, Australia
Best New World-Style Pale Ale presented by Hop Products Australia
- Hubert MPA (Packaged) – Melvin Brewing, WY, USA
Best International Style Pale Ale presented by The Post Project
- Billfish APA (Packaged) – Bach Brewing, Auckland, NZ
Best British Style Ale (excluding IPA and Pale Ale) presented by RASV
- Glamarama Summer Ale (Draught) – Sydney Brewery, NSW, Australia
Best European Style Ale presented by RASV
- Cha Chaan Teng Gose (Packaged) – Young Master Brewery, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Best IPA presented by Kegstar
- Knotty (Packaged) – Three Weavers Brewing Company, California, USA
Best Amber / Dark Ale presented by Hopco
- Two Birds Sunset (Draught) – Two Birds Brewing, Vic, Australia
Best Porter presented by Weyermann Specialty Malts
- Temptress (Draught) – Holgate Brewhouse Pty Ltd, Vic, Australia
Best Stout presented by RASV
- Spies Like Us (Packaged) – Wormtown Brewery, MA, USA
Best Reduced / Low alcohol beer presented by RASV
- Nail MVP (Draught) – Nail Brewing Australia, WA, Australia
Best Wheat Beer presented by RASV
- Beerland Wheat Beer (Draught) – Beerland Brewing, Whitfords WA, Australia
Best Belgian / French Ale presented by RASV
- Beach House (Draught) – Black Hops Brewing, QLD, Australia
Best Scotch Ale / Barley Wine presented by RASV
- Bohemia Wee Heavy (Packaged) – Cervejaria Bohemia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Best Specialty Beer presented by GABS
- Captain of the Coast (Packaged) – Pelican Brewing Company, Oregon, USA
DESIGN
Best Design – Label / Surface Graphic presented by Labelmakers
- South West Sour – Colonial Brewing Company, WA, Australia
Best Design – Outer Packaging presented by RASV
- Sawmill – Multipacks – Sawmill Brewery, NZ
MEDIA
Best Media – Presented by The Crafty Pint
- William Ziebell (The Crafty Pint), Vic, Australia
Consistency of Excellence – Presented by RASV
- Fixation IPA, (Draught) – Fixation Brewing Co., Victoria, Australia
- Weihenstephan Kristall Weissbier, (Packaged) – Weihenstephan, Bavaria, Germany