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Australia’s Best Beers: The Ultimate Top 50 Beer List (2019)

Introducing Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers for 2019…

Two years ago (2017) at Beer Cartel we started compiling a list of Australia’s best beers by combining the top 50 beers from four leading websites and polls; RateBeer, Beer Advocate, Untapped and Australia’s Hottest 100 Craft Beers.

The goal was simple, use what was readily available and robust but remove the bias involved with each of the individual lists. You can read about the method used to combine the four lists here or by downloading the free 47 page ebook which also includes detailed tasting notes, commentary and background.

Having now compiled the list for three years it is interesting to see the ebbs and flows of beers, ownership and breweries.

The 2019 Ultimate Top 50 Beer List

The growth of craft beer in Australia over the last few years has also meant the growth in the number of votes/ratings used to compile the list has grown as each platform experiences a growth of users.

For the 2019 Ultimate Top 50 Beer list there were over 200,000 votes / ratings used, making it twice as robust as last years list!

Some interesting insights about this year’s list:

• First, second and third places went to Balter IIPA, BentSpoke Cluster 8 and Stone & Wood Pacific Ale (respectively).
• Similar to last year there is no James Squire or Matilda Bay/Fat Yak featured even though these are two of the biggest craft beer brands. Furthermore, multinationals make up only 6% of the list; Carlton United Breweries/AB InBev (Pirate Life IIPA), Coca Cola (Feral Tusk), Lion (Furphy). This is a significant change down from 29% in 2018.
• Balter & Bentspoke both top the list with the most beers featured for a single brewery (5 beers each)
• Victorian breweries lead the way with the most beers featured in the list (30% vs NSW 22%, ACT: 16%, QLD: 16%, SA: 10%, WA: 6%)

Using the results of the list we have also created an ebook which showcases each beer, provides tasting notes and detailed commentary of the results.

Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers (2019)

1. Balter IIPA (Imperial IPA)
2. BentSpoke Cluster 8 (Imperial IPA)
3. Stone & Wood Pacific Ale (Pale Ale)
4. Modus Operandi Former (Tenant Red IPA)
5. Nail Clout Stout(Imperial Stout)
6. Boatrocker Ramjet* (2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016) (Imperial Stout)
7. Balter XPA (Pale Ale)
8. BentSpoke Crankshaft (IPA)
9. Young Henry’s Newtowner (Pale Ale)
10. Feral Tusk Imperial (IPA)
11. Pirate Life IIPA Imperial (IPA)
12. Bridge Road Beechworth Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
13. Riverside 777 (Imperial IPA)
14. Balter IPA (IPA)
15. KAIJU! Krush! (Pale Ale)
16. Hop Nation Jedi Juice New England (IPA)
17. Gage Roads Single Fin (Summer Ale)
18. BentSpoke Barley Griffin (Pale Ale)
19. Stockade The Mountie (Imperial Stout)
20. Your Mates Larry (Pale Ale)
21. Black Hops Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
22. BentSpoke Sprocket (IPA)
23. Capital Coast Ale (Steam Ale)
24. Modus Operandi Future Factory IIPA (Imperial IPA)
25. Modus Operandi Future Factory IIIPA (Triple IPA)
26. Akasha Korben D. (Imperial IPA)
27. Stockade Old Money (2017) (Imperial Stout)
28. Boatrocker Banshee (Barleywine)
29. Coopers Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
30. Green Beacon Windjammer (IPA)
31. Big Shed Boozy Fruit New England (IPA)
32. Hawkers Beer Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2016) (Imperial Stout)
33. Balter Captain Sensible (Pale Ale)
34. KAIJU! Where Strides The Behemoth (Black IPA)
35. Mornington Peninsula Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout)
36. Capital Rock Hopper (IPA)
37. Hop Nation The Dawn (New England IPA)
38. Bridge Road B2 Bomber Mach 6.0 (Imperial Black IPA)
39. Coopers Session Ale (Pale Ale)
40. Big Shed Golden Stout Time (Stout)
41. La Sirene Praline (Stout)
42. BentSpoke Red Nut (Red IPA)
43. Balter Strong Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
44. Furphy Refreshing Ale (Kolsch)
45. Mornington Peninsula Squid Supremacy (New England IPA)
46. Philter XPA (Pale Ale)
47. Holgate Millennium Falcon (Imperial IPA)
48. Dainton Blood Orange NERIPA (New England IPA)
49. Capital Trail Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
50. Modus Operandi Sonic Prayer (IPA)

*Rate Beer combined all the ratings for Boatrocker Ramjet 2013/2014/2015/2016 and so this was also done for other lists where these beers appeared. An average score was then given for each respective list (if applicable).