Not too long ago, the question “What are your favourite five Aussie craft beers?” would probably have illicited one of two responses: “What’s a craft beer, mate?” (with the explanation followed by “What are ya? A poofta or something?”) or “Are there really that many?”. Today, it’s likely to have beer lovers scratching their heads and putting in some serious thinking time (probably over a few craft beers) to draw up their initial list then whittle it down to just five.
The rapid growth of the Australian microbrewing industry and the vast array of beers now on offer made it possible for The Local Taphouse to launch a public vote two years ago to find not just the top five but Australia’s Hottest 100 craft beers. Inspired by triple j’s music countdown, with the winners revealed on Australia Day, the number of votes has doubled year on year. And now it’s back for a third year – with an even bigger lineup of beers for punters to choose from than ever before.
Steve Jeffares, from The Local Taphouse, says: “It was originally set up for punters to give us some feedback as most awards are decided by beer judges rather than the regular beer drinker. It’s a great window to see what’s happening with beer. It’s fantastic to see something like Icon from Murray’s, which is a relatively small brewery, coming second. We expect to see an increased prominence of the more out there seasonal beers this year.”
For the time being at least, the vote includes mainstream craft, although Steve says they’re considering ways of limiting the advantage of beers that have greater distribution in future votes.
“It could be bought at a cellar door or sold nationally by Dan Murphy’s,” he says. “But it has to have been brewed and tasted this year.” Commercially available beer brewed by anyone other than Foster’s or Toohey’s main operations is ineligible (so Matilda Bay and James Squire are OK).
This year voting has been simplified from your favourite ten to just five, which you can enter online here. Voting closes at midnight on January 16, 2011. A randomly selected voter will win a case of each of the top FIVE beers as available. In the meantime, look out for related articles on The Crafty Pint as we look to make this the biggest vote yet and the most accurate snapshot possible of the tastes of the growing number of Aussies enjoying good beer.
