Hottest 100 of 2014: The Breakdown

The results are in. Feral's invincible Hop Hog continues its march at the top, while Little Creatures is nudged out of the top three for the first time to be usurped by another US-inspired pale ale from 4 Pines.

La Sirene comes from nowhere to claim four spots, including a top five for its GABS beer Praline, while KAIJU! also score four top 100 finishes in their first full year of operations. And, for a brewery many may think of for one beer only, Pacific Ale, Stone & Wood notches no less than six beers – on par with Feral and just one behind Melbourne's Mountain Goat.

Session ales continue their rise, as do red IPAs / India red ales while, despite a feeling that craft lagers are on the rise, there's a mere one lager in the 100 this year. There's strong representation from Lion's craft brands – nine beers across Little Creatures, White Rabbit and James Squire, although once popular Knappstein has disappeared – and Coopers sees two beers hit the list including one brewed since 1852. On the other hand, in the year its latest home was shut down, CUB's craft arm Matilda Bay gains just one entry.

We've put many of the stats and trends in infographic form here but, as in past years, have unleashed The Crafty Pint's inner maths nerd and carried a little number crunching to present you with a breakdown of the top 100 and how the results compare with previous years.

What's more, we even brought The Crafty Pot into the fold for a spot of craft craft action to create the above, no expense spared, podium. Thanks, Pot!

HIGHEST NEW ENTRIES

There were 35 new entries, of which the highest were:

La Sirene Praline (5)
Riverside Brewing 777 (6)
KAIJU! Beer Where Strides The Behemoth (12)
Noisy Minor Admiral Ackbar (14)
Modus Operandi Former Tenant (15)

BIGGEST CLIMBERS

Prancing Pony India Red Ale (up 37)
Noise Minor ANZUS IPA (up 35)
Mornington Peninsula Pale (up 29)
Little Creatures Bright Ale (up 29)
Bridge Road Bling IPA (up 29)

TOP BREWERIES

Seven beers

Mountain Goat

Six beers

Stone & Wood
Feral Brewing

Four beers

4 Pines
KAIJU! Beer
La Sirene
Holgate Brewhouse
Little Creatures
Two Birds Brewing

Three beers

2 Brothers
Bridge Road
Fortitude / Noisy Minor
James Squire
Mornington Peninsula Brewery
Nail Brewing

MOST POPULAR STYLES

(previous years figures in brackets – 2013 / 2012)

Pale Ale – 20 (20 / 21)
IPA – 18 (26 / 21)
Session Ales – 14 (10 / 5)*
Red / Amber Ales – 7 (6 / 6)
Red IPA / India Red Ales – 6 (0 / 0)
Double / Imperial IPA – 5 (3 / 4)
Specialty (fruit, spice, flavoured) – 4 (1 / 2)
Imperial Stout - 4 (7 / 1)

There were also three black IPAs, brown / dark ales, ESBs and saisons, two stouts, sours and session IPAs and one Belgian pale, imperial red, porter and a solitary lager.

* Session Ales includes all golden ales, summer ales and mid-strength entries.

STATE BY STATE IN NUMBERS

(2013 figure in brackets)

Victoria – 47 (46)
New South Wales – 23 (24)
Western Australia – 14 (11)
South Australia – 9 (9)
Queensland – 7 (10)
Tasmania – 0 (0)

BY BEERS PER POPULATION SIZE

Victoria
Western Australia
South Australia
New South Wales
Queensland
Tasmania

THE FULL LIST SHOWING CLIMBERS, FALLERS & NEW ENTRIES

	Brewery	Beer	Change from 2013
1	Feral	Hop Hog	-
2	Stone & Wood	Pacific Alee	-
3	4 Pines	Pale Ale	Up 1
4	Little Creatures	Pale Ale	Down 1
5	La Sirene	Praline	New Entry
6	Riverside Brewing	777	New Entry
7	Goat	Summer Ale	Down 1
8	Noisy Minor	ANZUS IPA	Up 35
9	Bridge Road	Beechworth Pale	Up 2
10	4 Pines	Kolsch	Down 2
11	Fortitude Brewing Co	Golden Ale	Up 23
12	KAIJU! Beer	Where Strides The Behemoth	New Entry
13	Two Birds	Taco	Up 12
14	Noisy Minor	Admiral Ackbar	New Entry
15	Modus Operandi	Former Tenant	New Entry
16	Mash Brewing	Copy Cat	New Entry
17	Riverside Brewing	77 IPA	Down 5
18	Mountain Goat	The Delmont IPA	New Entry
19	KAIJU! Beer	Hopped Out Red	New Entry
20	Prancing Pony	IRA	Up 37
21	Thirsty Crow	Vanilla Milk Stout	Down 11
22	Feral	Barrique O'Karma	Up 11
23	Stone & Wood	Cloud Catcher	New Entry
24	White Rabbit	Dark Ale	-
25	Matilda Bay	Fat Yak	Down 3
26	Mountain Goat	Steam Ale	Down 10
27	Two Birds	Sunset Ale	Down 10
28	Coopers	Pale Ale	Down 5
29	KAIJU! Beer	Metamorphosis	New Entry
30	Little Creatures	IPA	Down 25
31	Holgate Brewhouse	Temptress	Down 18
32	Mountain Goat	Fancy Pants	New Entry
33	Feral	Watermelon Warhead	New Entry
34	Hawthorn Brewing Co	Pale Ale	Down 4
35	Mismatch Brewing	Archie's Red Ale	New Entry
36	La Sirene	Cherie Kriek	New Entry
37	Mismatch Brewing	Session Ale	New Entry
38	Bacchus Brewing	Sex, Drugs 'n' Rocky Road	New Entry
39	Mornington Peninsula Brewery	Imperial Stout	Up 26
40	Shenanigans Brewing	Winston	New Entry
41	Two Birds	Bantam	New Entry
42	Mountain Goat	India Red Ale	New Entry
43	Lord Nelson	Three Sheets	Down 15
44	James Squire	Hop Thief	New Entry
45	Bridge Road	Bling IPA	Up 27
46	KAIJU! Beer	Aftermath	Up 18
47	Stone & Wood	Jasper Red Ale	Up 6
48	Hargreaves Hill	ESB	Down 13
49	4 Hearts Brewing	Pale Ale	Up 20
50	Mornington Peninsula Brewery	IPA	Up 24
51	Little Creatures	Bright Ale	Up 29
52	Mountain Goat	Hightail	Down 25
53	4 Pines	ESB	Up 7
54	Burleigh Brewing	28 Pale Ale	Down 22
55	James Squire	150 Lashes	New Entry
56	La Sirene	Saison	New Entry
57	Moon Dog	Black Lung IV	Up 27**
58	Two Birds	Golden Ale	Down 22
59	2 Brothers	Growler	Up 19
60	Holgate Brewhouse	Road Trip	Down 42
61	McLaren Vale	IPA	Down 47
62	Six String Brewing	Dark Red IPA	Down 7
63	Boatrocker Brewing	Hop Bomb IPA	Down 19
64	Nail Brewing	Clout Stout	Down 2
65	McLaren Vale	Vale Ale	Down 56
66	Kooinda	Full Nelson Black IPA	Down 51
67	Boatrocker Brewing	Ramjet	Down 46
68	Nail Brewing	Red Ale	New Entry
69	BrewCult	Hop Zone	Down 17
70	La Sirene	Wild Saison	New Entry
71	James Squire	Chancer	New Entry
72	Mornington Peninsula Brewery	Pale Ale	Up 27
73	Holgate Brewhouse	Mt Macedon Ale	Down 42
74	Brewboys	Hoppapotamus IPA	Up 22
75	Young Henrys	Newtowner	New Entry
76	Bridge Road	Bling Bling Double IPA	Down 9
77	Stone & Wood	Garden Ale	Up 18
78	2 Brothers	Grizz	Up 1
79	Nail Brewing	Hughe Dunn Imperial Brown	New Entry
80	Stone & Wood	Stone Beer	Down 38
81	Little Creatures	Rogers	New Entry
82	Odyssey Tavern & Brewery	Calypso Pale Ale	New Entry
83	Murray's Brewing	Angry Man Pale	Down 6
84	Feral Brewing	Sly Fox	Down 44
85	White Rabbit	Belgian Pale Ale	New Entry
86	Moon Dog	Jumping the Shark	Down 67**
87	Feral Brewing	BFH	Down 39
88	Coopers	Sparkling Ale	New Entry
89	Ekim Brewing	After Battle Pale	Down 16
90	Holgate Brewhouse	Hopinator Double IPA	Down 44
91	Stone & Wood	Lager	Down 8
92	Modus Operandi	Zoo Feeder IPA	New Entry
93	Australian Brewery	Pale Ale	Down 32
94	Prancing Pony	Pale Ale	Up 3
95	All Inn Brewing	Pocahontas	Down 3
96	BrewCult	Can't Fight The Funk	Down 14
97	Feral Brewing	Tusk	New Entry
98	Mountain Goat	IPA	Down 59
99	2 Brothers	Creme Caramel	New Entry
100	Wolf of the Willows	XPA	New Entry