The winners of Champion Australian Beer and Champion International Beer have been named at the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) Presentation Dinner last night, with Mountain Goat Beer from Victoria awarded for its Barley Wine – Barrel Beer, part of their Rare Breed range, and Lion Beer Spirits Wine, New Zealand for its Speight’s 5 Malt Old Dark.

The 2015 AIBA, conducted by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria, attracted a record number of entries with more than 1,700 submissions from 344 exhibitors, across 35 countries received. The wide variety of beer styles were assessed by an expert industry panel of 58 judges from around the world, over three days at Melbourne Showgrounds. There were 28 Champion and Major Trophies awarded.

Mountain Goat’s Dave Bonighton and Cam Hines

This year’s Champion Large, Medium and Small Australian Brewery Trophies were awarded to 4 Pines Brewing Company, Thunder Road Brewing Company (for the second consecutive year) and Boatrocker Brewing Company, respectively.

Head Judge Warren Pawsey, who oversaw the largest panel of assessors ever assembled for the awards, was overwhelmed with the quality of entrants in 2015, which has improved year-on-year.

“We have been extremely impressed by the high quality product coming through, and 2015’s pool of entrants has not disappointed.”

Deemed the beer industry’s night of nights, the presentation dinner, held as part of Good Beer Week, saw over 800 people witness the much anticipated results, as well as the unveiling of this year’s collaboration beer, Girt By Three, brewed by the 2014 AIBA Champion Breweries – CUB, Thunder Road Brewing and 3 Ravens.

The AIBA prides itself on being accessible to all brewers and breweries worldwide, giving industry participants the opportunity to benchmark their product against global peers and allowing them to promote their award-winning brews using the AIBA seal of quality and excellence.

2015 Australian International Beer Awards – Champion Trophy Winners

Barrett Burston Malting Trophy for Champion Australian Beer: Barley Wine – Barrel Breed (Draught) – Mountain Goat Beer, VIC

ExpoNet Trophy for Champion International Beer: Speight’s 5 Malt Old Dark (Packaged) – Lion Beer Spirits Wine, NZ

GrainCorp Trophy for Champion Large Australian Brewery: 4 Pines Brewing Company, NSW

Barrett Burston Malting Trophy for Champion Large International Brewery: Brouweris De Halve Maan, Belgium

Kegstar Trophy for Champion Medium Australian Brewery: Thunder Road Brewing Company, VIC

Federation University Australia Trophy for Champion Medium International Brewery: Pelican Pub & Brewery, USA

FB*PROPAK Trophy for Champion Australian Small Brewery: Boatrocker Brewing Company, VIC

City of Ballarat Trophy for Champion International Small Brewery: ParrotDog Brewing, NZ

Gary Sheppard Memorial Trophy for Best New Exhibitor: Yantai Platinum Brewing Company, China

AIBA Media Award presented by The Crafty Pint: Luke Robertson, Ale of a Time

2015 Australian International Beer Awards – Major Trophy Winners

Bargo Events Trophy for Best Australian Style Lager: 333 Premium Export – Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp, Vietnam

Federation University Australia Trophy for Best European Style Lager: Byron Bay Premium (Draught) – The Byron Bay Brewing Co, NSW

Hellman Beverage Logistics Trophy for Best International Lager: Red Horse Extra Strong Brew (Packaged) – San Miguel Beer Limited, Philippines

City of Ballarat Trophy for Best International Pale Ale: Anytime IPA (Draught) – Temple Brewing Company, VIC

The Post Project Trophy for Best Australian Style Pale Ale: Sandman (Draught) – The Byron Bay Brewing Co, NSW

Time Out Trophy for Best British Style Ale: Fuller’s 1845 Celebration Strong Ale (Packaged) – Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC, UK

Bargo Events Trophy for Best European Style Ale: Sporting Ale (Draught) – Thirsty Crow, NSW

Kegstar Trophy for Best IPA: Epic Armageddon IPA (Draught) – Epic Brewing Company, NZ

Cryermalt Trophy for Best Amber/Dark Ale: Speight’s 5 Malt Old Dark (Packaged) – Lion Beer Spirits Wine, NZ

Weyermann Specialty Malts Trophy for Best Porter: Temptress (Draught) – Holgate Brewhouse, VIC

Spiegelau Trophy for Best Stout: Monteith’s Velvet Stout (Packaged) – DB Draught Brewery, NZ

Beer DeLuxe Trophy for Best Wheat Beer: Weihenstephan Kristall Weissbier (Packaged) – Weihenstephan, Germany

Brewtique Trophy for Best Belgian & French Style Ale: Mad Abbot Christmas Ale 2013(Packaged) – The Little Brewing Company, NSW

RASV Trophy for Best Scotch & Barley Wine: Barley Wine – Barrel Breed (Draught) – Mountain Goat Beer, VIC

Plasdene Glass-Pak Trophy for Best Specialty Beer: Red Rock Paardebloem (Packaged) – Red Rock Brewing Co, USA

RASV Trophy for Best Reduced/Low Alcohol: ClippedWing (Packaged) – ParrotDog Brewing, NZ

ExpoNet Trophy for Best Pilsner: Trumer Pils (Draught) – Trumer Australia, VIC

Brewtique Trophy for Best Packaging: Bastard Children of the British Empire (Set of 6 Bottles) – 4 Pines Brewing Company, NSW