Gage Roads’ Aaron Heary shows off the gong

The 2016 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) most prestigious honours have been taken out by Western Australia’s Gage Roads Brewing Company and the Boston Beer Company from Massachusetts, USA in an exciting year of beer for Australian and US brewers.

Gage Roads Brewing Company’s Little Dove (draught) was awarded Champion Australian Beer, while Boston Beer Company was awarded Champion International Beer for its Samuel Adams Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru (packaged).

Conducted by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV), the AIBA is the world’s largest annual beer competition judging both packaged and draught beer.

A panel of 63 beer industry experts judged the beers over three days, from Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 May, with a total of 30 Champion and Major trophies awarded at the AIBA presentation dinner on Thursday 19 May.

Other major Australian trophies awarded included Champion Large Australian Brewer to Stone & Wood Brewing Co in New South Wales, Champion Medium Australian Brewer to Two Birds Brewing in Victoria, Champion Small Australian Brewer to Pirate Life Brewing in South Australia and the Australian Gypsy Brewer Award to BrewCult in Victoria.

International major trophies awarded included Champion Large International Brewery to Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits in California, USA, Champion Medium International Brewery to Pelican Brewing Company in Oregon, USA and Champion Small International Brewery to Moylan’s Brewing Company in California, USA.

The Gary Sheppard Memorial Trophy for Best New Exhibitor was awarded to Barrabool Hills Brewery Co. in Victoria, Australia.

AIBA Head Judge Warren Pawsey, Little Creatures, congratulated his team of judges on another successful year of AIBA.

“It’s a privilege to lead a such a diverse panel of Australian and international judges, who bring a wealth of knowledge and brewing expertise to the competition.

“As in previous years, the process was intense and the judging panel were impressed with the quality and range of styles that were presented this year. This year the medal round was particularly hard to judge with some truly cracking beers entered.”

Celebrating its 24th year in 2016, this year’s AIBA received a record 1,793 entries from 326 Australian and international breweries across 36 countries.

RASV CEO Mark O’Sullivan congratulated this year’s trophy winners and entrants and thanked the Australian and international brewing industry for its continued support of the AIBA.

“The RASV is dedicated to continually assessing and evolving the categories within the AIBA to reflect industry trends, brewing techniques and consumer interest.

“The AIBA would not be a success without the support it receives from the brewing industry and we would like to thank all the brewers who participated in this year’s competition.”

Visit the AIBA website for a full list of results.