CHAMPIONS OF AUSTRALIAN CRAFT BEER ANNOUNCED AT INDUSTRY’S NIGHT OF NIGHTS
The Australian Craft Brewers Conference (ACBC 2016) culminated at a special awards ceremony on Thursday evening with the coveted gong of Champion Australian Craft Beer for 2016 going to Western Australia’s Little Creatures for its Pilsner.
The event saw more than 400 of the industry’s leaders gather under the one roof at Lightspace in the Valley.
Jack Cameron and Jared “Red” Proudfoot from Pirate Life Brewing celebrated their South Australian-based outfit winning the large Champion Brewery of the year award.
Brisbane-based operators, Green Beacon took out the award for medium Champion Brewery and Hope Brewhouse from New South Wales won the small Champion Brewery for 2016.
Individual beers from Pale Ales to French and Belgian Style beers were awarded best-of-the best accolades throughout the night as listed below.
| CLASS | BREWERY | NAME OF BEER |
| Pale Ale | Pirate Life Brewing | Pirate Life Pale Ale |
| Amber Dark Ale | Colonial Brewing Co | Pale |
| Porter-Stout | Black Font Brewhouse | Brown Porter |
| Wheat | Stone & Wood | Stone & Wood Gose |
| Specialty Beer | Green Beacon Brewing Co. | Bourbon Barrel Strong Ale |
| Lager | Little Creatures Brewing | Pilsner |
| IPA (India Pale Ale) | Murray’s Craft Brewing Co Pty Ltd | Thunderbolt |
| French and Belgian Style | Nomad Brewing co | Long Trip Saison |
Throughout this entire week, craft beer aficionados and experts converged at ACBC 2016 at the Royal International Convention Centre.
It was the first time the event was held in Brisbane and more than 600 industry leaders from across the craft beer supply chain attended throughout the entire event.
Chris McNamara, Executive Officer of the Craft Beer Industry Association (CBIA) said the calibre of craft beer in Australia had reached new heights.
“It is no secret that the popularity of craft beer in recent years has heralded major changes to the industry.
“Only a couple of years ago craft beer was still considered a niche industry but now it is very much the mainstream.
“The level of entries at this year’s awards have surpassed the quality of previous years and the flavours and techniques Australia’s leading craft brewers have employed are world-class”, he said.
So… a Pale Ale won the Amber category?