The 2021 Perth Royal Beer Awards have been judged, confirmed and locked away until the big reveal on Friday June 11 at an Awards Ceremony which will be held in the historical Centenary Pavilion at the iconic Claremont Showground in Perth. When we know, you will know so… WATCH THIS SPACE!

In the meantime, have you ever wondered what goes on to find winners of the Perth Royal Beer Awards? Here’s how it happened. Over the last two and coldest days of May 2021, 40 Beer aficionados gathered for a gruelling 48 hrs of beer judging to find the best of the best brews from across Australia. Led by Chief Judge and bravura of beer, Will Irving, our Judges critiqued 430 entries from 43 brewers across 21 categories.

The competition is open to commercial brewers who operate from a licensed Australian premise and preference is for all exhibits to be made from predominantly Australian grown and sourced ingredients.

Judges start with two calibration beers to prep their senses for the day ahead. Each entry is judge for appearance, aroma, flavour style and technical quality reaching a total score out of 20 within the respective category. This is applied to every beer entry across all the 21 categories and it’s all judged blind which doesn’t mean the judges are blind folded, but that no judge knows where the beer they are judging at that moment has come from. The same scoring system applies for the packaging and design entrants. They are scored out of 20 and this is made up of smaller scores across design, visual communication, functionality, and overall package. The packaging and design judging happens last because of course, the brewer and their branding is visible.

But judgment day is not just brewers supplying beers to a group of people to judge – it’s a whole lot more than that. There is an entire team of people behind the scenes working in collaboration to make these events happens (remove s). From the Perth Royal Food Awards event team bringing the event to life, sponsors, and suppliers right through to the team of stewards who, behind the black curtain, are kept on their toes keeping track of every minute of the judging process readying the glassware and pouring jugs for the next round with precision and efficiency.

It sounds like a lot because it is a lot. But if you ask Will, it is every bit worth it. Will says, “The Perth Royal Beer Awards are the most prestigious competition in WA. We are lucky to have such a diverse range of quality beer here and these awards are a great way to gauge who is leading the charge”.

Now the countdown is on for the big reveal on June 11 and we cannot wait. Watch this space and we will have the results up as soon as we can get our hands on them.