International breweries took out 11 of the 15 trophies awarded at the 2010 Australian International Beer Awards, announced tonight at a presentation dinner at The Palladium, at Crown in Melbourne.

In addition to scooping the majority of trophies, the prestigious Champion Exhibitor Trophy is headed offshore as well, awarded to Norwegian boutique brewery, Nøgne Ø – Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri of Grimstad, Norway.

Cleaning up at the awards, the Norwegian brewery also took home the Champion Small Brewery Award. The international flavour of the event was further emphasised with five trophies awarded to US beers, two to
New Zealand, and one each for first time entrant, Denmark and brewing giant, Germany.

Australian breweries took out four awards at the event with defending Champion Exhibitor, Feral Brewing, awarded the Champion Ale. The Premier’s Trophy for the Best Victorian Beer was awarded to 2 Brothers Brewery and New South Wales breweries Hunter Beer Company and Redoak Pty Ltd took out the Champion Porter and Champion Reduced / Low Alcohol Beer trophies respectively.

Australian International Beer Awards Chairman, Peter Manders, said the increase in international winners was due to a growth in entries from top tier brewers from around the globe.

“We were extremely impressed with the entries received at this year’s Awards. Now recognised on a global stage as the pre-eminent showcase for premium beer and brewing excellence in the Asia Pacific region, the international dominance has not come as a surprise, receiving more and more high calibre international entries each year,” said Mr Manders.

“A panel of 30 judges which included, Professor Paul Hughes of Heriot-Watt University in the UK, Director of Brewing Operations Jaime Jurado of Gambrinus Company in the US and international brewing consultant, Brian Watson of New Zealand, tested the beers over two weeks, experiencing some of the most fantastic beers in the world,” he said.

Trends to emerge from the two-week judging included a 50-50 split in entries from boutique and large scale breweries, a 20 per cent increase in international brewers entering the competition, a 50 per cent increase in gluten free beer entries and the inclusion of three international judges to the panel of beer experts in charge of assessing the beers.

Introducing the Champion Gluten Free Beer Trophy in 2010 in line with industry trends, no Champion was nominated.

“Judging the 12 gluten free beers in accordance with international beer standards, the brews that use products such as rice, millet and sorghum to replace wheat, did not stand up in 2010 with the panel unable to nominate a Champion, remaining true to its quality benchmarking standards,” Manders said.

The Australian International Beer Awards was first held in 1993 recording 94 entries from 30 exhibitors from Australia and New Zealand. It has grown today to host 1170 entries (675 Australian, 495 international) from 243 exhibitors (102 Australian, 140 international).

Conducted annually by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria and the University of Ballarat, the 2010 Australian International Beer Awards received entries from 34 countries around the world including first time entries from the lager-loving Danish, Fiji, Belarus and Spain who joined the Czech Republic, Belgium, Chile, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the UK, the USA, and of course Australia.

The winners included:

• Champion Lager – Hoss Rye Lager, Great Divide Brewing Company, Colorado, USA
• Champion Ale – The Runt, Feral Brewing Company, Western Australia, Australia
• Champion Porter – Hunter Chocolate Porter, Hunter Beer Company, New South Wales, Australia
• Champion Stout – Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, Mikkeller, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Champion Reduced & Low Alcohol Beer – Redoak Bitter, Redoak Pty Ltd, New South Wales, Australia
• Champion Wheat Beer – Emerson’s Weizenbock, Emerson’s, Dunedin, New Zealand
• Champion Belgian & French Ale – The Sixth Glass, Boulevard Brewing Company, Missouri, USA
• Champion Scotch & Barley Wines – Samual Adams Longshot Barley Wine, The Boston Beer Company, Massachusetts, USA
• Champion Hybrid Beer – Black Butte XXI, Deschutes Brewing, Oregan USA
• Champion Packaging Award – Scotts Pale Ale – 6 Pack Holder, Scotts Brewing Co, Auckland, New Zealand
• NEW Champion Gluten Free Beer – No trophy awarded
• Premier’s Trophy – Voodoo, 2 Brothers Brewery, Victoria, Australia
• Gary Sheppard Memorial Trophy – Big Sky Brewing Company, Montana, USA
• Champion Large Brewery – Weihenstephan Brewery, Friesing, Germany
• Champion Small Brewery – Nøgne Ø – Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri, Grimstad, Norway
• Grand Champion Exhibitor Trophy (awarded to the most successful exhibitor) –Nøgne Ø – Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri, Grimstad, Norway