Well, as we look back on yesterday’s Australia Day festivities we can say, “what a day beer fans!”

The Local Taphouse’s Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers was announced in a rolling and excitement building process yesterday. With the first 90 beers names in batches of ten, the top ten were rolled out one at a time to the tune of Triple J’s Hottest 100 Songs.

The winners are listed below, and the Twitter discussion showed that opinions were as varied as the breweries and the beer styles on the list. But, to use a massively overused but still very apt cliché, beer was the winner on the day.

According to Steve Jeffares from the Local Taphouse, voting more than doubled this year over last year, which was in itself twice the year before. Coupled to that, in what was already a record month for our site, Australian Brews News experienced record daily traffic yesterday highlighting the excitement that the poll announcement generated. Watching the #h100 Twitter feed was as engrossing as the count and you have to love the popular engagement that good beer is enjoying.

Congratulations to Stone & Wood for another fitting accolade for their flagship. One in eight voters put Pacific Ale somewhere on their list and first place attracted 20 per cent more votes than Little Creatures, another very deserving high finisher. Well done to all brewers who featured, particularly those new breweries that featured for the first time.

Congratulations too to the Local Taphouse for staging the poll. Cratypint.com and Australian Brews News are proud to have been associated with the poll, but the poll itself is the brainchild and the much-loved baby of the team at the Taphouse. It is a testament to their commitment to Australian craft beer and, despite any minor voting controversies that spark Twitter debate, they work very hard to make sure that the poll is the best reflection of the state of Australian craft beer as they can. Between the Hottest 100 and the upcoming Critics Choice publication (usual disclaimer that ABN’s Pete Mitcham is editor-in-chief of the publication and I am a contributor) Australia has a very accurate barometer of the state of Australian craft brewing.

Thanks also to Andrew Mitchell, from Pretty Clever Consulting, who devised both the voting and results systems that allowed the voting to run so smoothly and excitement to unveil yesterday.

Finally, thanks to all who voted – both for supporting Australian craft beer by buying it in the first place, and for taking the time to share your enthusiasm by voting. We can’t wait until next year when we can do it all over again. We’ll just have to console ourselves in the meantime with the Critics Choice countdown staring March 19.

The Local Taphouse’s
Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2011

1. Stone Brewing Co – Pacific Ale

2. Little Creatures – Pale Ale

3. Feral Brewing Company – Hop Hog

4. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Kolsch

5. Little Creatures – Single Batch – The Big Dipper

6. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Pale Ale

7. McLaren Vale Beer Company – Vale Ale

8. Kooinda Boutique Brewery – Black IPA aka Full Nelson

9. Holgate Brewhouse – Temptress

10. White Rabbit Brewery – Dark Ale

11. McLaren Vale Beer Company – Vale IPA

12. Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. – Icon 2IPA

13. Matilda Bay Brewing Company – Fat Yak

14. Bridge Road Brewers – India Saison

15. Mountain Goat Brewery – The Thorny Goat

16. Coopers – Pale Ale

17. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Hefeweizen

18. Knappstein Enterprise Brewery – Reserve Lager

19. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Extra Special Bitter

20. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Stout

21. Endeavour – Pale Ale

22. Hawthorn Brewing – Pale Ale

23. Malt Shovel Brewery – James Squires Golden Ale

24. Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company – ESB

25. Endeavour – Amber Ale

26. Kooinda Boutique Brewery – Pale Ale

27. White Rabbit Brewery – White Ale

28. Holgate Brewhouse – Hopinator

29. Thirsty Crow – Vanilla Milk Stout

30. McLaren Vale Beer Company – Vale Dark

31. Little Creatures – Bright

32. Holgate Brewhouse – ESB

33. Bridge Road Brewers – Galaxy IPA

34. Jamieson Brewery – Brown Ale

35. King Valley Brewery – Yowie Lager

36. Mountain Goat Brewery – Hightail Ale

37. Bright Brewery – M.I.A. IPA

38. Mornington Peninsula Brewery – Imperial IPA

39. McLaren Vale Beer Company – Vale Dry

40. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Amarillo Summer Ale

41. Mountain Goat Brewery – Steam Ale

42. Hawthorn Brewing – Pilsner

43. Hawthorn Brewing – Amber Ale

44. Mornington Peninsula Brewery – Pale Ale

45. 2 Brothers Brewery – Growler

46. Moo Brew – Pale Ale

47. Rocks Brewing Co – The Hangman

48. The Grove – Big House Ale

49. Balmain Brewing Company – Pale Ale

50. Woolshed Brewery – Amazon Ale

51. Kosciuszko Brewing Company – Pale Ale

52. Burleigh Brewing Company – Pale Ale

53. Four Hearts Brewing – 4 Degrees Pale Ale

54. Feral Brewing Company – Karma Citra

55. Moo Brew – Hefeweizen

56. Brew Boys – Ace of Spades

57. Holgate Brewhouse – The Empress

58. Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. – Wild Thing

59. Bridge Road Brewers – Chevalier – Saison

60. Two Birds – Golden Ale

61. Coopers – Sparkling Ale

62. Red Hill Brewery – Imperial Stout

63. Pinchgut – Pilzner

64. Red Hill Brewery – Scotch Ale

65. Bridge Road Brewers – Beechworth Pale Ale

66. Hawthorn Brewing – Witbier

67. Burleigh Brewing Company – My Wife’s Bitter

68. Woolshed Brewery – Judas the Dark

69. Mountain Goat Brewery – India Pale Ale

70. Mountain Goat Brewery – Coffee IPA

71. Doctor’s Orders – Zephyr

72. Cavalier – Pale

73. The Grove – Gangster Stout

74. Moo Brew – Imperial Stout

75. Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel – Three Sheets Pale

76. Little Creatures – Single Batch – Dreadnaught Stout

77. 4 Pines Brewing Company – Pils

78. Pinchgut – Black Plz

79. Moo Brew – Dark Ale

80. Little Creatures – Rogers

81. Cavalier – Brown

82. Jamieson Brewery – Beast IPA

83. The Grove – Boring Beer

84. Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. – Shawn’s Fault

85. Moo Brew – Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout (2010 Vintage Release)

86. Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. – Whale Ale

87. Coopers – Extra Strong Vintage Ale

88. Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. – Angry Man Brown Ale

89. Nail Brewing – Pale Ale

90. Moon Dog – Skunkworks Cognac Barrel Aged Double IPA

91. Mornington Peninsula Brewery – IPA

92. Malt Shovel Brewery – James Squires Amber Ale

93. Matilda Bay Brewing Company – Alpha Pale Ale

94. Thirsty Crow – 26-Fifty Summer Ale

94. Moo Brew – Pilsner

96. Malt Shovel Brewery – James Squires Pale Ale

97. Bridge Road Brewers – Bling IPA

98. 3 Ravens – 55

99. Four Hearts Brewing – 4 Degrees Summer Wheat

100. Kooinda Boutique Brewery – Valhalla Golden Ale

100. Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. – Grand Cru

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