Entries for the 2023 Australian Independent Beer Awards (The Indies) are now OPEN.

The Indies Awards medal and trophy winners will be celebrated together on 23 August at BrewCon this year.

In striving to ensure continuous improvement, the Independent Brewers Association (IBA) have spent the time between the last year’s awards and now reviewing feedback received from entrants, judges and stewards and talking to international and national counterparts and as a result would like to highlight the following changes:

Scoring methodology

The Median Scoring method used to calculate Champion Brewery and State Trophies will remain the same with one minor adjustment being a reduction in the point value assigned to silver medals going from 3 points to 2 points, thereby raising the significance of gold medals.

Many options have been analysed over the last two years but in the end, the IBA considers this is the fairest way to calculate a brewery’s overall performance.

Trophy Classes

Trophy classes have increased from 10 to 17 to better categorise the styles, to align with consumer awareness/trends and to reduce numbers in larger classes. Check out the Entry Guidelines on page 7 to familiarise yourself with what’s new.

New Styles

The IBA heard loud and clear the frustration from entrants who could not find a style that fits their beer, especially those that do not brew exactly to style eg. lowering the abv % for the Australian market.

Six new styles have been created to fill this gap: New World Pale, New World Amber/Dark, New World IPA, New World Imperial or Double IPA, New World Pilsner and New World Lager. So beers with a modern take on a traditional style will now have a home here.

Best have a read of the Style Guidelines so you have a good idea of the underlying style before going through the entry process.

Why you should enter

There are many reasons to enter.  Aside from having the best of the best judges in the country, improvements to the entrant and judging system and feedback every year, there’s a couple of new introductions that we hope you will find enticing.

Included in our Mission Statement and aligned to our broader remit of raising awareness of the Independent Seal to consumers is the desire to increase the promotional activities and marketing of trophy and medal winners beyond the presentation ceremony.

The IBA realises it shouldn’t be all up to you – so in 2023 the IBA are excited to let you know about three initiatives:

1. Trophy winners will be given the opportunity to participate in dedicated in store and online promotional campaigns via Coles Liquor Group (CLOG) as part of our new partnership (see May edition of Everything Indie for further detail).
2. Trophy winners will feature in Phase 2 of the Indie Seal Consumer marketing campaign that is currently in market. Phase 2 will run from October 2023 for 3 months.
3. Winners will be highlighted for 12 months on the new Ask For Indie website, which is where the campaign drives thousands of people to.

The IBA hope this reassures entrants that they do listen and that they are committed to ensuring that you see real value in entering our awards.   The IBA know times are tight and respect that you have other considerations so we wanted to make sure we try to make your dollar go further.

Entry Information can be found HERE.

Indies Tickets can be purchased HERE.