436 of Australia’s best craft breweries had a whopping 1,877 different beers attract votes in the 16^th edition of the annual GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer poll as consumers were treated to a plethora of highly entertaining voting campaigns proving the creativity of brewers extends far beyond the mere act of brewing beer!

After tens of thousands of votes had been counted, Mountain Culture Beer Co’s much loved Status Quo Pale Ale has gone back-to-back and been crowned Australia’s favourite craft beer for the second year running!

The brewery, founded in 2019 in NSW’s beautiful Blue Mountains has experienced a meteoric rise in the local craft beer scene in just a few years, with a popular core range and frequent limited release brews appealing to drinkers across the country, is run by husband-and-wife team, DJ & Harriet McCready.

Two previous champions took the second and third positions on the podium with Mick Fanning’s, Gold Coast’s Balter XPA taking Silver and in what has said to be the closest race for third ever, Canberra’s much loved BentSpoke Crankshaft IPA came in just ahead of Sunshine Coast’s Your Mates Larry, to take out the Bronze.  It is only the third time in the history of the poll the top three positions have been repeated in the same order as the previous year.

The Top 10 had two new entrants in WA’s Gage Roads Brewing Co Single Fin and SA’s Pirate Life Brewing’s South Coast Pale Ale joining Victoria’s Bridge Roads Beechworth Pale Ale, SA’s Coopers Brewery Original Pale Ale along with NSW’s Stone & Wood Brewing Co’s Pacific Ale and Young Henrys Newtowner.

SIXTY-THREE BREWRIES MAKE THE LIST!

Fans showed their love for personal choice and appreciation of the incredible beers made by our talented brewers in Australia with an incredible 63 different breweries having beers represented in the Top 100! In a show that there are some serious new contenders in the market that are tantalising consumer tastebuds with 28 beers dropping off last year’s list and being replaced by new fan favourites.

BLUES BEAT THE MAROONS!

NSW breweries took out the bragging rights of most beers appearing on the Hottest 100 list with 27 beers on the list and Queensland had 24. A strong resurgence from Victoria saw them close the gap with 22, WA took out 11 spots with ACT and SA both took 8 positions.

PARTIES, PODCASTS AND HIGHEST RANKING NEW BEERS!

Balter Brewing Co’s Cerveza proved to be the most popular new beer released in 2023 to make this year’s Hottest 100 list, ahead of Mountain Culture’s 2023 Summer Pale Ale collaboration beer with USA’s Sierra Nevada and Heads of Noosa’s Black Japanese Lager.

In a welcome celebration of craft for the industry which has endured a challenging time, beer taps flowed at GABS Hottest 100 countdown day parties held at venues all around the country. Beer was enjoyed, celebrated and even debated as fun was had by all! Beer media personality, Matt Kirkegaard, kept listeners entertained with over 5 hours of live podcasting, analysing the results and interviewing some of the industry’s biggest personalities.

GABS mentioned a huge thank you to all the Hottest 100 sponsors, notably platinum sponsor First Choice Liquor Market who hosted the official event and live podcast at its Ashfield store in Sydney, attended by customers and top 100 finalists Stone & Wood, Young Henry’s, Hawke’s Brewing and Heaps Normal.

Head of First Choice Liquor Market, Michael Bornholdt congratulated Mountain Culture Beer Co for once again taking home the top honour.

“This year’s winners are an excellent representation of the quality craft beer being made around the country. It’s clear pale ale remains a favourite, with Aussies clearly voting for solid, consistent brews that are true to their style,” said Michael.

“Craft fans looking to taste the award-winning beers can head to our national First Choice Liquor Market stores and online where we stock the vast majority of the Hottest 100, with the GABS Summer Invitational pack featuring eight summer-inspired styles also on offer for a limited time.”

You can find the full GABS Hottest 100 list and a free poster at www.gabshottest100.com/au/ and are invited to tune in on GABS Festival socials (@gabsfestival) next Saturday for the release of the Hottest 100 NEW craft beers of 2023 (beer brewed for the first time in 2023) and the Hottest 100 Independent owned and Next 100 lists.