Australians Pick The Best Beers Of 2018

What some describe as a “larger than life competition” the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers of the Year officially crowned Austallia’s best beers.

Here’s the deal…

An offshoot of Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular festival, the GABS runs a poll every December that invites Australians to vote for their favorite craft beers. And they announce each year’s champions on Australia Day, an annual patriotic celebration that’s like the 4^th of July in the US, but with kangaroos.

And what started as humble exercise has become one of Australia’s most anticipated beer power rankings complete with radio-sponsored brewery campaigns and all kinds of regional politicking.

“This year’s list is again very revealing about what people are drinking and enjoying, whether that’s a more mainstream Pale Ale or a Strawberry Rhubarb Sour from their favorite Sunshine Coast local,” GABS co-founder Steve Jeffares told The Courier. “With breweries opening in all corners of the country, pushing the boundaries of style, technique and creativity, there’s really never been a better time to be a craft beer drinker.”

And for a second time Queensland’s Balter XPA was voted the best beer in Australia. The Balter Brewing Company part-owned by surfing stars Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Josh Kerr and Bede Durbridge, dominated this year’s Top 10 with two additional wins, one for its Imperial IPA (#6) and the other for its popular American IPA (#7).

Now in its 11th year, the GABS poll reflected huge regional allegiances to certain breweries as more than 155,000 beer lovers cast their votes to pick the nation’s top beers.

THE GABS TOP TEN

1. ‘XPA’ American Pale Ale (Balter, QLD)
2. ‘Pacific Ale’ Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood, NSW)
3. ‘Crankshaft’ American IPA (BentSpoke, ACT)
4. ‘Newtowner’ Australian Pale Ale (Young Henrys, NSW)
5. ‘Beechworth Pale Ale’ Australian Pale Ale (Bridge Road, VIC)
6. ‘IIPA’ Imperial IPA (Balter, QLD
7. ‘IPA’ American IPA (Balter, QLD)
8. ‘Krush! Tropical Pale Ale’ Pale Ale (Kaiju! VIC)
9. ‘Jedi Juice’ New England IPA (Hop Nation, VIC)
10. ‘Single Fin’ Australian Pale Ale (Gage Roads, WA)