The brewery's name is relatively new, the brewery and many of their beers less so, the brewers' knack for claiming trophies predating the existence of most breweries in Australia.
Esker Beer Co – the beer brand that evolved from the Australian Brewery almost two years ago to the day – might not be well-known outside their hometown of Sydney, but the name is familiar to beer judges who last night named their Citrus Gose Champion Beer or Cider at the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show.
The beer also took out Best NSW Beer or Cider and Champion Fruit or Sour, while the Rouse Hill-based brewery also picked up Champion India Pale Ale for their West Coast IPA. They've enjoyed plenty of success at the Sydney awards over the years – both as Esker and Australian Brewery – and won Best Modern Pale Ale for their Hazy Pale at last year's Australian International Beer Awards.
Chair of judges Ian Kingham said: “I was particularly impressed with Esker Beer Co. Following a rebrand and redirection in 2022, the Hills Shire brewery has not only won four champions and a plethora of gold and silver medals, but they have taken home the top award with the Esker Citrus Gose really impressing our judges.”
There were more familiar faces among the winners in the beer categories too. Philter Brewing won Champion Pale Ale with their XPA, the beer that announced them to the craft beer world when it picked up Champion Pale Ale at the Craft Beer Awards just months after the Marrickville brewing company launched in 2017 and Champion Lager, while serial trophy-winners Reckless are taking more silverware back to Bathurst after an evening of double delight: Champion Amber or Dark Ale went to BX Old; Champion Experimental or Specialty Beer went to their Baltic Porter.
The other trophy winners in beer were White Bay Brewery for their recently-rebranded Czech Pilsner, 4 Pines, whose Nitro Stout claimed Champion Porter or Stout, and Hiatus Beer, whose Non-Alcoholic Pacific Ale is the inaugural winner of the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show Champion Reduced or No Alcohol Beer or Cider title.
“This year we introduced nine new champion trophies and prizes to help better reflect industry trends in Australia and I think what has come out of that is a very deserving range of champion winners who are producing quality products that can be enjoyed by a wide demographic,” Ian said.
“This year’s competition has shown us that despite such a difficult time for the Australian beer industry our brewers are still producing world-class products and are doing so from all areas of the country. From regional areas like Bathurst and Geelong to city hubs in Sydney and Melbourne, the quality of beers and ciders being entered is phenomenal, and that is reflected not only in the champion winners announced tonight but also in the high percentage of medals awarded across the competition.”
This 2024 Champion Cider went to Flying Brick Cider Co for MC Cider. A total of 206 exhibits were entered for judging with 18 percent receiving gold medals and 83 percent picking up a gold, silver, or bronze medal.
Senior judge and Tooheys brewery team leader Tom Davies was also honoured at the 2024 judging, receiving a Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Youth Medal for his dedication to the competition. He started as a steward at the competition in 2017 before progressing to associate judge in 2018 and has now been a senior judge since 2021.
The awards were held alongside the inaugural Sydney Royal Distilled Spirits Show Awards, where 14 of the country’s best distillers were also honoured. St Agnes Distillery won Best Distilled Spirit of Show for their XO Grand Reserve, with the 40-year-old brandy earning an impressive 98 points out of 100.
Central Coast’s Amber Lane Distillery won Champion Single Malt Whisky for Alchemical Series: Water, Champion Ready to Drink went to Curatif’s Espresso Martini, while Champion Liqueur went to The Canberra Distillery for Coffee Liqueur, one of two trophies on the night with their Old George Reserve Rum The Chair of Judges Annual Prize.
In the competition’s popular gin category, Yamba Distilling Co won Champion Traditional Gin for Duke – Dry Gin, Pants Off Distillery claimed Champion Contemporary Gin for Pants Off Antz Pants Gin, and Lord Howe Island Distilling Co won Champion Other Gin for Wolfe Rock Gin.
Top Shelf International picked up Champion Alternative Spirit for Act of Treason Reposado, while the other trophies at the inaugural awards went to Manly Spirits Co’s Grape & Grain Vodka (Champion Vodka and Champion NSW Distilled Spirit), Fleurieu Distillery’s Country to Coast #5 (Champion Grain or Blend Whisky), and Lord Byron Distillery’s Pure Single Rum – Ex Red Wine 2023 release Cask #8 (Champion Cane Spirit or Rum).
You can view all winners on the Sydney Royal website.
James Smith launched The Crafty Pint in 2010, two years after moving to Australia from the UK. He was taken to Mountain Goat within weeks of landing in Melbourne, joined their indoor cricket team, and is still navigating the rabbit hole that is craft beer to this day.
The beers that turned you on to good beer:
- Watching pints of McEwan's 80 Shilling settle when visiting family in Edinburgh.
- Pints of flat Bass from the jug at the Cap & Stocking in Kegworth.
- A first Paulaner Hefeweizen when working in Munich in 1998: “This smells of bananas!”
- Castle Rock Harvest Pale – how could a 3.8 percent ABV beer be so good? (It turns out it was an early example of the three Cs – Cascade, Centennial and Columbus – in an English bitter).
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA poured through hops at the Sunset Grill in Cambridge, MA, in the company of a man who turned out to be the Beer Nut (while we were both covering a double murder case at the time).
- Ordering a Mountain Goat Hightail on my first day as an Aussie resident as it was local and I’d never heard of it; “A dark Australian beer; well I never…”
- Murray’s Icon 2IPA at Beer DeLuxe Fed Square, recommended by a guy I’d not long known who's now the main man at Fixation, served by Mik Halse, now head of sales at Hawkers. How could an Australian beer smell as good as that?!?
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Any really good, fresh and balanced West Coast style IPA. Punchy hop aromatics are the most obvious way to capture someone's attention and these IPAs, done well, present the key components in beer (if you're sticking to just water, malt, hops and yeast) in harmony yet with the volume turned up.
- Saison Dupont. Arguably a selfish choice here as I bloody love the broad saison style and dearly hope it will finally take hold in Australia one day. Given a choice, I'd probably crack one enlivened with Brettanomyces like Molly Rose Matilde for myself but, when it comes to turning on someone new, you've got to go with the classic.
- Rodenbach Caractère Rouge. Because if you don't enjoy or can't appreciate this beer, I'll never win you over. And because Filip, the fruit and wood specialist at Rodenbach that designed it, is a beautiful human.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Fixation IPA at The Incubator.
Three things that represent you:
- The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Golden Plains
NB All articles written by James in the first eight years of the site appear as By Crafty Pint. Today, that's used for collaborative efforts by the wider team.
