TWØBAYS Brewing Co. has taken out top honours at the World Beer Cup once again, becoming the first Australian brewery to collect back-to-back gold medals in the competition’s history.
As one of the most prestigious competitions in the beer world, the World Beer Cup hands out just one gold, silver and bronze award in each category. This year, TWØBAYS once again scooped the gold medal in the Gluten Free category with its Pacific Ale, a new addition to its core beer range that was launched in March this year.
TWØBAYS Founder Richard Jeffares describes the win as a huge honour, stating: “We’re very excited. It shows the guys are not just brewing good beer for gluten free, they are brewing great beer full stop.”
Crafted using Galaxy hops, grown in Victoria’s high country and developed by Hop Products Australia, TWØBAYS Pacific Ale is described as a sessionable beer with an easygoing bitterness and fruity hop profile.
In 2024 the Mornington Peninsula brewery picked up the same medal with its widely popular Session Ale, and is now the first Australian brewery to be awarded a gold medal two years running.
Gold, silver and bronze medals were handed out across 112 beer categories and five cider categories, with the competition attracting 8375 entries from 1761 breweries from 49 countries.
TWØBAYS was deemed the best gluten free beer by a panel of 256 judges representing 37 countries and was the only Australian brewery to collect a medal this year.
While Jeffares acknowledges that the brewery is lucky to have access to high quality gluten free malts from the US – Grouse Malt House Colorado and Eckert Malting & Brewing California – he attributes much of the brewery’s success to the expertise of its brewers.
“Our Head Brewer, Kristian Martin, came from the barley brewing world so has spent five years refining his processes, techniques and recipes using gluten free malts, and built a team of brewers who really understand the alternative grains we work with. They are not easy malts to brew with and there’s not too many resources to help with recipe development, so it has come from seven years of trial and error and getting to know our raw materials,” he told Beer & Brewer.
“I think what makes our beers really stand out in the gluten free category is the fact you would never spot they were gluten free just from the taste, they are just as good as the barley equivalents. Incidentally, Session Ale won the 2023 Indies trophy for Best Specialty Beer in a category with dozens of gold medal-winning barley beers.”
Jeffares says such recognition accelerates the brewery’s mission to raise awareness of the quality that can be found in gluten free beers, especially as demand continues to grow.
“All the data suggests 11 per cent of Aussies avoid gluten 100 percent of the time, and another 14 per cent choose to avoid on certain occasions – that’s six million Australians who would pick a GF beer if it is available and comparable in taste and quality to the barley beers they may be used to.
“Winning awards like this is important to help us show the hospitality and alcohol retail industries, as well as consumers, that quality is no longer a question when it comes to ranging and choosing gluten free beer. Awareness is the next big barrier we need to break down, so awards like this really help us to tell that story – these beers really stack up against the rest, and everyone can enjoy them no matter if you avoid gluten or not.
“We know from our rate of sale at the MCG it’s not just gluten free drinkers picking them up, it’s just people who want a good beer. When 11 per cent of customers walking into a bar or bottle shop are avoiding gluten, it seems logical to make sure you have a range of beers to suit their needs, or they’ll just go somewhere else.”