Dollar Bill's Gold Teeth, winner of the Sour, Fruit & Funk category, wins overall Best Independent Beer for 2023 at the Australian Independent Beer Awards (The Indies).
A year of quality and quantity, the Ballarat brewers Dollar Bill stood out from the crowd of 1,348 to take the top spot at The Indies this year, impressing 65 judges from Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
Justin Fox, Head Judge, said he and his fellow judges were blown away at the quality of beers entered at this year's awards, the first in-person BrewCon held since 2019.
"229 beers were awarded gold, and an incredible 85 per cent of all beers entered received a medal. This medal tally demonstrates that the standard of independent beer poured in tap rooms and packaged in fridges across Australia is of an exceptional quality.
"Brewers are delivering beers absent of major technical faults and reflective of the promised style, allowing consumers to repeatedly enjoy their engagement with independent beer," he said.
Champion Class trophies were spread relatively evenly across the states. Queensland and New South Wales were awarded five each, closely followed by Victoria with four, South Australia with two and Western Australia taking home one.
Will Tatchell, Advisory Committee Chair for The Indies, said: "The incorporation of seven new beer styles into our guidelines truly reflects the relentless dedication of the Advisory Committee.
"I look forward to witnessing these new styles not only naturally flourish, but also progressively evolve as we journey into the future showcasing the incredible growth in creativity amongst our Australian brewers."
Richard Watkins, Chair of the awards' presenters, the Independent Brewers Association (IBA), said: "Both the number of entries and medals should be celebrated given some of the challenging circumstances currently facing the industry. What a way to kick the bad times to the curb. Congratulations to all medalists, champions and entrants, you are all winners in our eyes."
Kylie Lethbridge, Chief Executive Officer of the IBA, said: "This year we celebrated in style, in Surfers Paradise, together as an industry for the first time since 2019. The fantastic setting, warm night, great company and gorgeous array of beers was just the best way to celebrate excellence in brewing and to cheer on our 2023 award winners."
Overall, the results included 1,147 medal winners, with 229 Gold, 454 Silver and 464 Bronze medals awarded across three days. The category with the most entries was Pale Ale, with 143 entries, followed by Traditional Lager and Reduced Alcohol, with 118 and Porter/Stout, with 113.
See here for a full list of trophy winners.
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