Bridge Road Brewers Robust Porter

Bridge Road Brewers has won beer’s top prize at the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show, which founder Ben Kraus hopes will assist with getting sales traction in the city.

Bridge Road collected both Champion Bottled Beer and Best in Show – Beer for its Robust Porter at the awards, announced on Friday September 23.

“The Bling IPA also received a Gold medal with Beechworth Pale Ale, Saison and Bling Bling all receiving Bronze,” Kraus said in a statement.

“Personally it’s very rewarding to see our beer recognised by industry experts when judging the beer blindly on its own merits… to receive anything more than a Bronze is exceptional, and to win champion beer is beyond our expectations.”

Sydney market’s tough: Bridge Road
Kraus told Australian Brews News that it was the first time the company had entered the Sydney show, a conscious decision to assist with brand recognition in that market.

“We’re finding life hard in Sydney. There’s less opportunity for taps and more requirements for sharp pricing – pricing we haven’t been able to achieve, given our scale compared to some of the other guys,” he said.

“And we’re not local in Sydney. Beechworth has no relevance in Sydney so it’s a harder ideal to sell,we have to find another angle on it.

“It’s just all combined to make it harder.Winning best beer in show might give us some traction – it might be that tipping point,” said Kraus.

He said the Robust Porter has consistently won silver medals over a number of years and it has recently been tweaked for further improvement.

Gongs for Redoak
A team of 26 judges and officials oversaw judging of almost 200 of Australia’s finest beers and ciders.

Redoak of Sydney also impressed, taking home Best NSW Beer and Champion Draught Beer for its Redoak Aussie Lager.

Franklin Cider Company dominated the cider/perry classes, winning both Champion Perry and Best in Show – Cider/Perry for Frank’s Summer Pear Cider.

A full list of winners is available here.