By Deb Jackson, Editor Beer & Brewer
With the Australian beer industry booming, we thought it would be remiss of us to not celebrate all of the amazing brewing talent we have in this country. So for the 2017/18 Summer Issue of Beer & Brewer we are bringing back the annual Beer & Brewer Awards.
For the 2018 Beer & Brewer Awards we wanted to make sure that we were championing players from all facets of the industry. From the stalwarts who have dedicated their lives to brewing, right through to the brewers working tirelessly to keep our thirst quenched, the venues we visit to quench that thirst, and the experiences we have at those venues, which all play a hand in making the brewing industry what it is today.
We enlisted the help of 23 panelists from around the country and asked them for their personal favourites in each category. We then tallied the scores to reveal our winners. The scoring was weighted so those at the top of the panelists lists scored higher than those at the bottom.
Our judges included Tim Charody aka The Beer Pilgrim, Kirrily Waldhorn aka The Beer Diva, Chris McNamara from the Independent Brewers Association and Neal Cameron from The Institute of Beer – just to name a few.
There were 12 categories overall, including three Peoples’ Choice categories that were voted by Beer & Brewer readers. The Peoples’ Choice categories included Best Beer Name, Best New Beer for 2017, and Best Beer Packaging – but you will need to check out the Summer Issue of the magazine to find out those winners.
In today’s newsletter we have decided to give you a sneak peak at four of the major award categories, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Brewer, Best New Brewery and Best Homebrew Shop.
The remaining categories include: Best Brewery Experience, Best Brewpub, Best Craft Beer Venue, Best Regional Beer Venue, Best Online Retailer, and the Peoples’ Choice Awards.
The winners can all be viewed in the Summer Issue of Beer & Brewer which is available at independent bottle shops, homebrew shops and newsagencies nationwide. To subscribe, click here.
From all here at Beer & Brewer we’d like to say congratulations to all of the winners of the 2017/18 Beer & Brewer Awards!