Australian Beer Awards 2022

BEERLAND BREWING IS THE 2022 AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL BEER AWARDS CHAMPION BEER

THE MELBOURNE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL BEER AWARDS IS THE LARGEST ANNUAL BEER COMPETITION IN THE WORLD FOR DRAUGHT AND PACKAGED BEER. THIS YEAR SAW 65 JUDGES TASTE 2,630 ENTRIES FROM 355 EXHIBITORS AND 20 COUNTRIES — THAT’S A LOT OF BEER!

WHILE THE TITLE OF CHAMPION AUSTRALIAN BEER AND CHAMPION AUSTRALIAN-STYLE LAGER WENT TO WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BREWERIES, LOCALLY VICTORIA SHOWED UP AS THE WINNING STATE RECEIVING THE LION’S SHARE OF THE TOP AWARDS, SOME FROM SMALL BOUTIQUE BREWERIES PRODUCING WORLD-CLASS BREWS.

Melbourne Royal handed out 35 prestigious trophies at this year’s Awards Trophy Presentation Dinner at the Victoria Pavilion in the Melbourne Showgrounds.

Western Australia’s Beerland Brewing was awarded the prestigious title of Champion Australian Beer for their Beerland Blueberry Clouds.

Champion Australian-Style Lager went to King Road Brewing Co, Western Australia, for its King Road Lager.

Presented by Danielle Green MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Victoria, Champion Victorian Brewery was awarded to Reservoir’s Hawkers Beer, also awarded Champion Large Australian Brewery.

Dollar Bill Brewing was also among Victorian winners winning the Australian Gypsy Brewer Award on top of the major Champion Australian Beer award last year. Collingwood’s Stomping Ground Brewing Co. took out Champion Medium Australian Brewery.

Footscray’s Hop Nation was awarded Best Modern India Pale Ale for Get the Gist, and Collingwood’s Molly Rose picked up Best Belgian/French Ale for Nectarined. Thornbury’s 3 Ravens Brewery was awarded with Best European- Style Lager for Hugin.

The Champion International Beer went to Belching Beaver Brewery, CA, the United States, for Viva La Beaver Stout.

Beerland Brewing

Big Shed Brewing

3 Ravens Brewery

More international winners included Deep Creek Brewing Co, Auckland, New Zealand winner of Champion Medium International Brewery; Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, Bavaria, Germany, winner of Champion Large International Brewery; Artmonster Brewery, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, winner of Champion Small International Brewery and The Bold Mariner Brewing Co, Virginia, United States winner of the Gary Sheppard Memorial Trophy for Best New Exhibitor.

Brad Jenkins, Melbourne Royal CEO, said, “We had an extraordinary response to the 2022 Melbourne Royal Australian International Beer Awards from the beer and brewing industry. We received a record number of entries this year, despite the ongoing global challenges and the natural disasters across northeast Australia. This is a testament to the value and importance the beer and brewing industry places on winning a trophy or medal in these worldclass awards.

“There’s nothing like winning at the world’s largest annual beer competition that assesses both draught and packaged beer. I thank all the brewers from around the world who entered this year and congratulate all the medal and trophy winners.”

FOR COMPLETE RESULTS INCLUDING MEDAL WINNERS, VISIT www.melbourneroyal.com.au

#AIBABEER

ST AGNES – Australia’s favourite brandy

A STRING OF HIGH-PROFILE AWARDS HAS SEEN THE SALES OF ST AGNES XO LUXURY BRANDY SURGE TO NEW LEVELS, WITH A FLOW-ON EFFECT TO ST AGNES VS, VSOP AND BARTENDERS CUT EXPRESSIONS.

The awards started to roll in October last year, with St Agnes Distillery awarded a gold medal for St Agnes XO 15-Year-Old, peaking when St Agnes was named Best Distillery at the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards in Adelaide.

These awards were followed by a Gold Medal and Trophy for Best Brandy for St Agnes Imperial XO 20 YO at the Australian Distilled Spirit Awards announced in Melbourne in December. Also taking home awards were St Agnes Grand Reserve XO 40 YO with a Gold Medal and St Agnes XO 15 YO with a Silver Medal. This was the 5th time in the last six years that brandy from St Agnes Distillery has taken out the Best Brandy Trophy at these awards, with St Agnes XO Imperial 15 YO also winning in 2016, 2017 and 2020 and the older sibling, St Agnes XO Grand Reserve 40 YO, winning in 2019.

The awards continued to come in December, with St Agnes XO 15 YO collecting a Gold Medal and the JJ McWilliam Trophy for Best Brandy at the Sydney Royal Wine Show. The most recent accolade is the Dan Murphy Inaugural Decoded Spirit Awards Best Brandy Trophy for St Agnes XO 15 YO, with St Agnes XO 20 YO Imperial and 40 YO Grand Reserve also making the shortlist against competition from all over the world.

St Agnes is Australia’s most highly awarded and popular brandy, and St Agnes distillery is South Australia’s oldest continually run craft distillery. With barrels dating back fifty years or more, it is also in an enviable and unique position to offer such rare and distinguished spirits to the world. The St Agnes Distillery’s purpose is clear; show the world another face of Australian product excellence by creating Australian spirits of exceptional world standards.

THE EBEV PLATFORM IS DRIVING EFFICIENCIES FOR BOTH THEIR VENUE AND SUPPLIER PARTNERS

The eBev ordering platform is simplifying the ordering process for thousands of hospitality venues across the country whilst reducing business administration on both sides of the beverage industry.

The ‘one-stop-shop’ platform has everything from beer, wine, and spirits to the burgeoning non-alcoholic category from the big wholesalers through to the smaller indie producers and distributors. Here we speak to some of their eBev community on how the platform makes a difference to their business.

Momento hospitality has been at the forefront of Sydney’s Northwest for over 40 years. With a dedication to hospitality across their growing stable of venues such as the Bella Vista Hotel, The Governor Hotel, and the Duke of Dural, Momento have turned to eBev for their considerable beverage ordering functions.

Grant Allsopp, Finance Director, “eBev has been a game changer for the group, with a simple,easy to use platform on any device with our venue managers saving considerable time in the weekly ordering process. All invoicing is centralised across the group with integration into our POS and accounts system, saving considerable time.” When asked what makes eBev stand out as their chosen ordering partner, Grant continues, “The range is all important, we can pre-load our main pour wines and spirits from the big wholesalers, including our agreed LUC, yet also pick up our craft spirits for Sophia’s (their exclusive cocktail bar), along with niche Italian wines from smaller importers for Sarino’s our high-end Italian restaurant. We even run our kegged beer programme through eBev, it’s all there and allows a single view on the group’s beverage performance.”

Sasha Goldsmith runs Cellar d’or, wine makers and distribution, based in Melbourne. With a focus in on-premise exclusive brands, Cellar d’or turned to eBev to streamline the business. Sasha notes, “eBev is just what the industry has been needing for years, it’s given us back a sense of freedom from the admin side of the business, letting us do what we do best, making wine, building relationships and growing our customer base. As a result of not having to chase payments, and reconcile 100’s of customers, eBev has significantly reduced our business costs, allowing more time to be out selling and marketing. The small cost of having eBev Trade is far outweighed by the increase in revenue. eBev has given me back the chance to grow my business, while reduce staff time being spent on admin tasks. Oh did I mention credit apps are done by ebev in about 30 min, then once approved stock is delivered and I get paid 100% in 3 days with no claw backs for bad debt. I sleep well now!”