It’s GABS Hottest 100 time!
Every single beer is a Pale Ale/ variant with the occasional sour, which shouldn’t even be classified as a beer.
This is the start of my annual GABS hottest 100 comments recap, and that was left by someone on the Crafty Pint Facebook. They immediately contradict themselves:
Australians appear to have incredibly blinkered palates when it comes to drinking beer.
Anyway, he’s not done:
in addition to this, quite a few of these are mainstream brewers, so can’t be classified as craft brewers, so their beer cannot be classified as craft beer.
I have to ask… sez who?
I wasn’t going to do this post this year. These comment-reviews started years ago in response to a bunch of sexist and homophobic comments on a beer article. Somehow it morphed into GABS comments and while its fun to rip on people, I’m beginning to feel a little like Bart in the “I didn’t do it” episode. I’ve literally walked into bars and people are all “so… when’s it coming?” about this exact post. I know that makes me sound like I’m big-noting myself but it’s not, because it’s about the only traffic this blog ever got, or gets. I’d get heaps more traffic by posting hazies to insta and tagging it something edgy like #craftnotcrap.
I’m also not as angry as I once was. Turns out therapy actually works, sorry everyone, for becoming a better person.
But people love that delicious schadenfreude and I guess it falls to me to do it. Are the rest of Australian beer media complete cowards? All signs point to yes.
This year was also weird one because I’ve been fudged up with a concussion for the last four weeks. Trying to live a normal life, with splitting headaches and constant dizzies. Feeling like I’m working on half a brain.
So with my qualifications shored up, let’s look at some more comments starting with a predictable post pointing out that Dan Murphy’s, who sell one third of all alcohol in the country, stock popular products:
…sick to death of ficking Dan Murphy’s dictating the top 10 list so only beers they have the rights to sell top the list. This is absolute rubbish and I’ll never gabs again. No wonder Carwyn cellars are doing they own damn thing these days for legit delic brews.
Firstly, we don’t shorten “delicious” to “delic”. It’s “delish”.
Secondly, I see this comment a lot, but every time I go into Dan Murphy’s I see a lot of beers that never make it into GABS. Do people think Dan’s just sell 10 beers and 10 beers only. There’s a lot of trash beer in Dan Murphy’s that never polls, and never will, because it’s trash.
Carwyn is pretty rad though, but I’m not sure what “they own damn thing” is here. They also sell some shit that I don’t like.
Shops sell a range of things to cater to a diverse audience. Delic? More like ridic.
Luke, with a solid name, decides to wheel out a pretty tired joke.
Congratulations to the nickelback of beers
I saw this joke a couple of times and by now Nickelback-as-a-punchline-is so played out that it’s becoming (wait for it…)
…
the Nickelback of jokes.
Mark asks, what if not Nickelback, but shop:
@stoneandwood is the general pants of beers
Mark is a generally pants commenter.
Another guy with some great current comedy.
Stone and Wood? 2017 called…
The Seinfeld episode that launched this joke format into the zeitgeist was 20 years old in 2017. TWENTY YEARS. You gotta keep up with current comedy, in this fast moving world. Like, me, with all these cool gifs.
I didn’t note who said this next one:
Clearly sponsored by Dan Murphy’s #boring#mainstream
I mean, yeah? It is sponsored by Dan Murphy’s it’s right there on the website. They make no secret of it and in fact, by the nature of the deal, make it very public. Good not-boring comment though.
I forgot to note down this person’s name as well:
Do what Beervana do in NZ and take it from votes at the event rather than this ridiculous popularity vote, it’s becoming a joke 🍻
Don’t do a popularity vote, do it like Beervana and do a popularity vote? And do it at the event which, in this case is, the ENTIRE YEAR OF 2019!
It also runs a People’s Choice at each event… which is exactly what you are suggesting. JFC whoever you were. Think before you type. People can read this.
Here’s Muzz Wall, which is short for Muzzle Wuzzle.
Un following this swill …
Good on you muzzle. You don’t have to like it, and you certainly don’t have to follow it. You can make your own choices and in the spirit of good digital wellbeing I suppo…hangon let me just double check…
You motherfucker.
But S&W Pacific the best craft beer in Oz? No way. Popular? For sure.
I mean…. Yeah? We just did an entire poll about this that you are commenting on. It is, indeed, popular. You gotta keep up TJ.
Second place-getter, Balter, dethroned after consecutive victories, took no time kissing first-place ass.
Amazing effort by an amazing team! Congratulations @stoneandwood#goat
“ooh I wub you stone and wood we can be frieends”. Yuck.
Slap ’em down Stone & Wood. They sold out to big beer and you are fierce independents. Jam it in their faces:
🙏🙏🙏🙏 thank you guys. What a year you’ve had 🍻
Someone else I forgot to note down:
dude just like the US elections the winner is decided before voting even begins thus is the fate of this laughable so called world beer event. @gabsfestival has to stop biasing and making it win.`
What’s this fella clued into that we don’t know? He then replied immediately after… maybe in haste to cover his tracks. Here he suggests people vote because they recognise the label.
popularity? 🤔 more like default mode. Ppl vote for it knowing the label as they don’t know the others….esp the % of voters who don’t go past generic tap beer….ohhh I think I remember that orange label….yeah….yeah I had one of them. And that’s how they vote.
It’s a list of names buddy. Do you think it was a list of labels?
I wonder if the immediate second post was designed to muddy the waters of his first. Throw us off the scent that he’s dialled in to a wider conspiracy like any good disinfo campaign. Matthew, give us a call. We’d love to have you on the Hypothetical Institute.
I found him again. Three comments (at least), so you know he’s serious. He even tells us:
I take beer seriously dude. And they promote this as a defining craft beer poll. With coppers green even in the list and this winning it negates any imposed titles
He takes beer seriously, dude. I snooped on his insta and couldn’t find one beer pic. He did post one of those “oh you think boomers ruined the planet we didn’t even have fast food and plastic bags checkmate millennials” walls of text.
Traitor.
Someone else I didn’t note down:
I thought it was about taste. Pirate life still do a good job. Fact u don’t see any garage project in any rankings says alot
lmao it DOES say a lot that a New Zealand beer didn’t place in this Australian poll.
Another Matt with another conspiracy! This is great:
No way this beat Balter. I’m hearing GABS are deleting comments calling them on cooking the books
Conspiracy: GABS delete comments.
Reality: the team at GABS mainline all your shitty comments right into my inbox.
Clay uses the word “yuppie” like it’s not 2020:
There should be a rule that excludes mass produced yuppie marketed beers. Marketing on point. I like this beer, but there are plenty better… it’s so “mainstream” now, which goes against what craft beer is intended to be
Craft brewers: I should make a beer that I like, and people will enjoy. I can sell it, promote it, and employ people while earning a living at the same time.
Clay: Well first of all, fuck you.
Matt is back
what horseshit is this babble….😆 it is comparing it to generic VB but easy with your drinky breath talk hey
“easy with your drinky breath talk” is 100% something I’m gonna start saying from now on.
Colin:
My god, have we truly evolved? Pale ales, the Aussie lager.
This is one of those statements that really hurts the mind if you think about it. All of the top selling beers in Australia are lagers by a wide margin. An insane margin. Like 90% of the market still.
Hey Colin, easy with your drinky breath talk buddy.
Yet another conspiracy, this time from Ben:
it shows that it pays to get an IT guy to vote with bots.
Stone & Wood, god love ’em, are a bunch of hippies. Last time I was there I was like “wow bold choice to have forest-green and white linen as a staff uniform” but I asked and it turns out that just how they all dress. All of them in their swishy linens like a weird cult. They have computers and stuff, sure, but these linen clad hippies aren’t running bot scams.
Matty weighs in here:
interesting to see how many repeat voters there are and demographics of voters. Interesting further how a hell of a lot of bottlos struggle to even have stone & wood. How they keep giving this beer this award is anyone’s guess but it seems to have worn thin now with many. 1 beer repeatedly taking it out given the depth of field?….is this a rigged result known prior to voting even commencing….🤔
Matt, none of what you said was interesting and I’m honestly not sure what you were saying at all. Demand is high and lots of people want to buy it and then it gets voted top in a popular poll…
Andy takes us back:
Maybe 4 years ago number 1.. 😂
Actually Andy… definitely four years ago number one. As in literally. Cry laugh emoji rofl.
Lucas has some ideas on how to improve things:
Why not keep state votes seperate and the combined average finish determines the top 100. But definitely agree with the new beers only. You don’t see triple j’s hot 100 for this year filled with songs from 15 years ago.
Two points here Lucas-with-the-Lid Off.
1) what? You want votes separate and then a combined average? And then what exactly? It might be my concussion speaking but what? What exactly is this idea?
2) You don’t see Triple J hottest 100 filled with songs from 15 years ago because bands don’t keep recording and releasing the same song. And there were a bunch of covers in the Triple J this year. There was a straight cover of Bulls on Parade in the top 10 (no disrespect to Denzel Curry. Listen to his last album, it’s very good).
Breweries have to keep making beer because once a beer is drunk, someone else can’t then drink it. This isn’t complicated.
Jason:
Doesn’t even make my top 100. But hey each to their own
Each to their own but still. my taste is better. But hey, no judgement if you suck. Per me, Jason, the best.
Nathan with a zinger:
GABS or GIMPS?
Jason again…
For those interested check out Willo and the Geeza beer lovers on FB.
We’ve been to 70 of the 84 W.A. based breweries over the last 9 years.
Personally I’ve been to 80 nationally.
Sneaky little promo and a sick flex from Jase. 80 breweries in nine years. Go off on them king.
Anyway, that’s about the rub this year. A slew of deadshit comments. There were more about James Squire and Little Creatures or whatever being on the list. These dorks need to realise that they live in a golden age. It was only a few years back we had to choke down caramel bomb old-ass IPAs and grovel at the feet of James Squire. Occasionally they’d throw us scraps like a hoppy hefe and we’d be all “omg craft beer is off the hook” (which is how we spoke back then. Crazy times). Now you can walk into Dan Murphy’s and buy local sours, legit saison and fresh IPA. You have no idea what it was like.
What’s cool is finding peeps whose minds are blown by these beers. Like this comment on the #1 announcement.
What’s this frothy?
Haha never heard of it. Any good?Looks like a new beer hey?
Bring out the Gimp 😂😂😂😂😂
Dear Luke
Very funny article had me literally laughing out loud – LLOL!
This is a letter to all the beer experts out there,
OPINION IS NOT EXPERTISE.
As a brewery/ business owner that’s been around for a while I’d like access to some of these keyboard warriors workplaces, so I can just drop in and judge their work and then publicly shame them & give my opinion so they never get hired again. I mean,I know sweet FA about IT but I’m happy to give my opinion on the programme you’ve just been working on for the last 12 months and take it down with my opinion! It may be good, it may be great .but it’s a programme not to my taste.
I could say nothing and move on to a programme I like, but I’ve had a few beers and my conifdence is high! Takedown time!
Let’s takedown a local mechanic ‘omg this guy couldn’t use a spanner if he was paid, used to take my car there when they were a craft mechanic, only 3 cars in the workshop, last time there were 10 waiting- Sellouts
I’m waiting for this one ‘I used to like Bentspoke when they only had the brewpub. Once they went big, the beer changed and since they’ve changed their cans from the 360 lids the beer , well it’s definitely changed.
FFS You morons , these beers are there because these breweries work hard to maintain consistency , are marketed well, have great distribution and arrive in your hands fresh. All very hard things to do with a food product!
If Matilda Bay, Mt Goat, Creatures, Stone and Wood 4 Pines , Balter ,Bentspoke etc hadn’t been as successful as they have smaller brewers wouldn’t have access to ranging in the independents or BWS, Dan Murphys .These guys have paved the path for all of us!
At least the big boys don’t kill them off any more like they did with Bluetongue, a lager brewery I proudly worked for for 5 years which was killed off 5 years after SAB brought it.
So next time you get the courage after your 4th NEIPA (so tasty ,but they creep up hey!) and want to spew forth your online opinion (not expertise) to sway another 25 people to not try well made pale ale or lager – Think about the Brewer!
Consider that someone has taken a massive risk . Made a very brave decision, possibly moved themselves and their family interstate to follow a dream. This could be their life’s work, and are extremely proud at the end of each day of what they make. They hold it up as the sun comes through the brewery door after a 13hr double brew day and they smile as they drink their work. They put their heart and soul into every brewday, have sleepless nights and have managed somehow to put considerable $$ ( more than they imagined) into a business. They employ people , they pay taxes (excise,GST , PAYG) and engage with their local communitys. They love their work and want make their interpretation of the best beer they can and hopefully people like it, some get make a living out of it.
Then you trash it with the swipe of a keyboard!
Maybe next time , don’t post the comment, just once. Hopefully it makes you feel better, over time, it could become a habit.
And when you post photo’s of a beer, FFS, CLEAN YOUR GLASSWARE !
Time for a Pale Ale?
Lachie MacBean
Grainfed Brewing Company
Newcastle, NSW