The 2018 release of Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers list has revealed stouts are among the most highly rated Australian beers.

Created by craft beer retailer Beer Cartel, Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers takes ratings from more than 100,000 beer drinkers to provide insight into Australia’s best beers.

Geoff Huens, Director of Beer Cartel said the list was designed as an alternative way to look at Australia’s craft beer scene and remove the bias that other polls and top beer lists have. The annual list was first released in 2017.

“We didn’t want to just create a list of what Beer Cartel thought were the best Australian beers, so we looked at what lists were already out there and used that as a starting point.”

Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers is created by amalgamating the top 50 beers from four leading websites and polls; RateBeer, Beer Advocate, Untapped and Australia’s Hottest 100 Craft Beers. A ranking formula is then used to collate data to create the Ultimate Top 50 Beers list.

“Each of the individual lists (RateBeer, Beer Advocate, Untapped and Australia’s Hottest 100) have their own nuances and consumer base. By combining them we remove these biases, creating a list we believe is a better reflection of Australia’s top 50 beers”, said Mr Huens.

Key takeouts from Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers list for 2018:

• First, second and third places went to Pirate Life IIPA, Modus Operandi Former Tenant Red IPA and Nail Brewing Clout Stout (respectively).
• There are more stouts featured in the list than any other beer style (31% vs 25% for IPA and 18% for pale ales).
• Unlike other lists, many beers with smaller distribution and production volume made the top 50 list, showing that deep pockets and large distribution are not prerequisites.
• Two large craft beer brands, James Squire and Fat Yak, do not appear in the list at all.
• There are 16 beers which feature in the list for the first time, 3 of which are New England IPAs – a new style of IPA with next to no bitterness which is growing in popularity.
• With the buyouts in late 2017 of Feral Brewing, Pirate Life and 4 Pines, the percentage of independent breweries represented in the list has reduced from 88% to 71%.

The 2018 version of Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beer list can be found at www.beercartel.com.au/blog/australias-best-beers-the-ultimate-top-50-beer-list-2018. A free downloadable ebook with expert commentary and detailed tasting notes on each beer can also be accessed via the link above.