For the second year running, Smiling Samoyed has taken home the Best Beer in Show trophy at the Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards for its Dark Ale. Backing up wins in awards competitions is far from easy so it's an impressive achievement for the young Myponga based brewery. As in 2015, the beer also took out the Champion South Australian Beer and Dark Ale classes.
“I am emotionally overwhelmed," said Kate Henning, who opened Smiling Samoyed with partner Simon Dunstone three years ago. "Just to have a beer that can consistently win at this level is great for us, especially when there is so many good beers out there."
Other major winners on the night included Pirate Life Brewing, Coopers and Goodieson Brewery, with the first of those adding to their rapidly amassed mountain of awards by taking out four more: Champion India Pale Ale and Champion American Style Pale Ale trophies, plus Chief Judge's Award for Best New Exhibit (Pirate Life IPA) and the Champion Large Brewery trophy.
Co-founder and joint head brewer Red Proudfoot, who had fallen ill on the night of the Australian International Beer Awards and missed the brewery's haul that night in May, said: “It was obviously very pleasing, we picked up two or three medals: est pale ale, best IPA and best new exhibitor and the big one, Champion Large Brewery, which is pretty exciting.
"You never expect to have so much success, you never anticipate it, but our brewers are pumping out some great beers and they are putting a lot of hard work in. I am very pleased for the guys who are working 12 hour shifts.
"It is always nice to see the smaller guys have success as well, like Smiling Samoyed who absolutely killed it with their dark ale, and our mates Modus Operandi from NSW who picked up best medium brewery.”
Coopers and Goodieson took home three each. Coopers won Champion Australian Style Lager, Champion Traditional Australian Style Pale Ale and Champion Reduced Alcohol Beer trophies, while the small McLaren Vale brewery was awarded Champion Wheat Beer, Champion Porter and Champion Small Brewery.
In total there were 196 entries from 42 brewers from four states with all but one trophy staying in South Australia; serial award-winners Modus Operandi, from Sydney's Northern Beaches, was the only interstate winner after being named Champion Medium Brewery at the presentation evening at the Adelaide Showground last night (July 8), as the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival kicked off.
Other winners included Woolshed Brewery’s Judas the Dark (Champion Hybrid Beer), Prancing Pony Brewery (Champion Pilsner) and Vale Brewing’s Vale Amber (Champion Other Lager). In the cider section, The Hills Cider Company Apple Solera Series won two trophies – Best South Australian Cider Exhibit and Best in Show, while the Barossa Valley Cider Company won the Best Perry (pear cider) trophy for its Squashed Pear Cider.
Jeff Wright, head brewer at Vale and sibling brand Fox Hat, said: "I think it’s a fantastic result. We are very proud of our Amber Lager, it’s one of our most awarded beers of our portfolio and it is a great all year round type of beer.”
As for Prancing Pony's win and lengthy medal haul, co-owner Corinna Steeb said: "We won 16 medals and a champion trophy so we are having a happy time.
"It is the first batch [of their trophy winning Achtung Helles], we made it because we identified a real demand for a beer that satisfies the palate of people that would usually drink Corona or just want a throwback at the end of the night."
Members of the public can sample trophy and award-winning beers at the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival, where The Crafty Pint has helped curate beers for the Container Bar and where the site's founder is hosting panels during the Saturday afternoon session.