Little Bang Brewing Co’s ‘Face Inverter’ Citrus Super Sour has been named Australia’s best beer can design in the inaugural GABS Can Design Awards.

The winning can, designed by freelance designer Matt O’Connor, beat entries from more than 120 breweries, including nine other short-listed designs that were described as a “creative mash-up of cultural references from tattoo art and streetwear fashions to cartoon design and modern aesthetics”.

“The designs on the outside are now as good as the beer inside as can art has exploded with top designers and street artists using the tin to express themselves,” said Craig Williams, GABS Craft Beer & Cider Festival, Event Director.

“Little Bang Brewing Co’s winning design takes me back to the skateboard design days of the 80s and 90s and embodies those rebellious times.”

After a public vote on the entries, a short list of 10 designs was assessed by a panel of design experts, who said the winning design “hits you in the face like a sour should” and that “you can taste it by looking at it.”

“When you walk into a bottle shop, wine is very serious and grown-up but there’s so much fun and character injected into these craft beer cans,” said Ben Keenan, Founder and Creative Director of The Thought Police, and one of the Award Judges.

“These designs are indicative of the times and I bet in the future it’s these designs that will be hanging up on bedroom walls.”

Little Bang Brewing Co takes home the coveted Orora Golden Can Trophy, a free set of printing plates for their next print with Orora, plus the honour of claiming the very first title in what the organisers believe will come to be the gold standard award celebrating some of the most creative people in this exciting industry.

The awards showcase the rapid rise of cans in the craft beer space since craft beer was first put into cans in Australia in 2013.

The nine shortlisted breweries will receive a product innovation design and manufacture package with Opal Specialty Packaging.

The GABS Can Design Awards are proudly presented by Orora Group, Australia’s largest beverage can solutions provider, and supported by Opal Specialty Packaging, the country’s leading experts in renewable packaging; Boozebud, the online alcohol retail specialists; and Australian Brews News, who the brewing industry turns to for its news.

Second Place: Moon Dog Brewery – ‘The Future Is Bright’ Solar Powered IPA

Moon Dog wanted to celebrate an important step in becoming more sustainable. Designed by Loren Tanis, the artwork needed to literally show this but in a fun and vibrant Moon Dog way. The Future is Bright celebrates the huge new brewing facility at Moon Dog World that is powered with the help of the sun. They have 317 solar panels (anymore and they would have been classified as a power station!) and a 100kW solar inverter that have helped brew this bright and fruity IPA. The design itself features some of their solar panels and of course the sun shooting its solar rays all over the can (inspired by the Timbuk 3 song of the same name).

Third Place: Fixation Brewing Co – ‘You’re On Mute’ West Coast Double IPA

It’s a really fun and quirky illustration by Jase Harper that is 100% a can for the current climate. This design looks at the various faces of working online. The playful nature of Zoom and the challenges it throws up. They then tried to look at it through their brand lens – it shows the playful nature of Fixation, their obsessiveness with hops and IPAs and uses Fixation’s core green, black and white brand colours.

Runners-Up