By now, you’ll have had time to take in the latest Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll results. Congratulations to everyone that featured, in particular the team at Swan Valley’s Feral Brewing for adding yet another gong to their overburdened trophy cabinet.
In its fifth year, the poll started by The Local Taphouse, featured a staggering and diverse 1,119 beers from 178 breweries and brewing companies. And with a huge number of Pale Ales, IPAs, Black IPAs (eight of them!!!!) and other variations on a theme featuring in the list, it’s clear Aussies love hops.
Guy Greenstone, co-owner of The Local Taphouse, was thrilled with the record number of voters.
“While it is effectively a popularity contest, it’s remarkable how closely the results tally with what the annual Critic’s Choice list looks like, particularly at the top of the table,” he says. “It’s also terrific to see some beers brewed especially for our Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, including the Watermelon Warhead, appearing in the final hundred.”
"With new microbreweries opening around the country seemingly every day, and a growing number of beer bars selling those craft beers, it’s awesome to see so many new names on the final 100," says business partner Steve Jeffares.
So how does the hundred breakdown? We satisfied The Crafty Pint’s inner nerd so we could bring you this:
100 beers
92 ales
8 lagers
76 from breweries
24 from brewing companies or contract-brewers
3 collaborations (two with Mikkeller, one with Nøgne Ø)
MOST FEATURED BREWERIES / BREWING COMPANIES:
Seven beers
Bridge Road, VIC
Mountain Goat, VIC
Six beers
Little Creatures, WA
Five beers
Holgate, VIC
Four beers
4 Hearts Brewing, Queensland
Stone & Wood, NSW
Three beers
4 Pines, NSW
Bellingen, NSW
Burleigh Brewing, Queensland
Endeavour, NSW
Feral, WA
Hawthorn, VIC
Murray’s, NSW
Riverside, NSW
McLaren Vale, SA
BY STYLE (Some are a little hard to classify, but this will give you a decent idea)
21 Pale Ales
11 IPAs
8 Black IPAs
5 English Ales
4 Amber Ales
4 Wheat Beers
4 Imperial IPAs
4 Lagers
3 Australian Ales
3 Stouts
3 Saisons
3 Pilsners
3 Imperial Red Ales
2 Golden Ales
2 ESBs
2 Porters
2 White Ales
2 Red Ales
1 Kolsch
1 Bock
1 Sour
1 Dark Ale
1 Coffee IPA
1 Brown Ale
1 White IPA
1 Mild
1 Strong Ale
1 Strong Belgian Ale
1 Imperial Stout
1 Spiced Ale
1 Steam Ale
1 Stone Beer
BY STATE
Victoria – 39 beers
New South Wales – 34 beers
Western Australia – 10 beers
Queensland – 8 beers
South Australia – 7 beers
Tasmania – 2 beers
