By James Atkinson
Western Australia's Feral Brewing stole the show at last night's Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) presentation dinner, picking up three awards including the top prize for Champion Large Australian Brewery.
Conducted annually by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) in conjunction with the University of Ballarat, the showcase for premium beer and brewing excellence presented 18 trophies with 10 awarded to international breweries and eight awarded to Australian brewers.
In an AIBA first, trophies were also presented for Champion Large International Brewery, awarded to Oregon's Deschutes Brewery and Champion Small International Brewery, awarded to Oregon's Pelican Pub & Brewery.
Across the Pacific, the United States was a standout, winning four trophies; New Zealand breweries claimed two and Belgium, Brazil, Germany and Norway picked up one each.
But it was Feral Brewing Company that stole the show locally winning three awards for Western Australia including Best International Pale Ale for the third consecutive year and Best Scotch & Barley Wine.
Celebrating the brewery's 10th anniversary this coming October, head brewer Brendan Varis (pictured right hand side, with Feral's William Irving) said the award comes as Feral prepares to open a new brewing facility next month that will take their production capacity from 400,000 litres to 2.5 million litres each year.
"It is quite fitting that after a decade of hard work, we are expanding to meet our consumers' demand with our range of highly awarded products," he said.
"We hope that winning this award will encourage more people to enjoy the unique experience of our hand-crafted range of beers."
The complete list of winners of the 2012 Australian International Beer Awards is as follows:
Champion Large Australian Brewery – Feral Brewing Company, Western Australia, Australia
Champion Large International Brewery – Deschutes Brewery, Oregon, USA
Champion Small Australian Brewery – Wig & Pen Brewery & Tavern, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Champion Small International Brewery – Pelican Pub & Brewery, Oregon, USA
Best New Exhibitor – Cervejaria Bodebrown Ltda, Paraná, Brazil
Best International Lager – Hahn Super Dry, Tooheys, New South Wales, Australia
Best Pilsner – Croucher Brewing Pilsner, The Croucher Brewing Co, Rotorua, New Zealand
Best Amber / Dark Lager – Weltenburger Asam Bock, Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg, Kelheim, Germany
Best International Pale Ale – Hop Hog, Feral Brewing Company, Western Australia, Australia
Best European Style Ale – Koelsch, Illawarra Brewing Company, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Best IPA – Caldera IPA, Caldera Brewing Co, Oregon, USA
Best Amber / Dark Ale – Doryman’s Dark, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Oregon, USA
Best Porter – Akkevit Porter, Haandbryggeriet Brewery, Drammen, Norway
Best Stout – Stout, 4 Pines Brewing Company, Manly, New South Wales, Australia
Best Wheat Beer – Redback Pale, Matilda Bay Brewing Company, Victoria, Australia
Best Beligan & French Ale – Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel, De Halve Maan, Brugge, Belgium
Best Scotch & Barley Wine – Razorback, Feral Brewing Company, Western Australia, Australia
Best Speciality – Summer Sommer, Garage Project, Wellington, New Zealand
Well done guys. Craft beers are definitely more flavoursome and offer an incredible range of styles. With 2% market share you’re still flying under the radar, but you can bet Carlton and Lion Nathan won’t be partnering the association if you get within cooee of 5%. Publicans are an unusual breed and they’d rather lose an arm than a rebate from Carlton or Lion Nathan.