Pirate Life IIPA

South Australia’s Pirate Life Brewing Co has experienced a staggering spike in interest in their beers since they stormed the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2015 on Australia Day, just 10 months after opening.

The brewery, whose Double IPA, Pale Ale and Throwback IPA came in at number 3, 4 and 11 respectively, is struggling to keep up with demand and eagerly awaiting the arrival of new tanks to increase capacity.

“After the results were announced, the phone did not stop ringing and email enquiries flooded in,” enthuses Pirate Life’s Michael Cameron.

Craig Jessup, co-owner of Palais Distributing Co, the distributor of Pirate Life beers, hadn’t experienced anything like it before.

“We started receiving orders at 5pm on Australia Day and some of our warehouses were empty by the following day. The response was immediate and impressive – we quickly had 146 new account enquiries, 35 new tap points and demand at store level is reaching fever-pitch across the nation. They’re still opening five or more new accounts every day.”

In recent years, the rapid growth in the GABS poll around the country has seen many breweries with beers in the final 100 enjoy a noticeable boost in sales as a large number of independent and chain retailers, bars and fans use the results when deciding what beers to buy.

“I reckon the GABS poll will become the biggest national celebration of craft beer as it creates fantastic interest and discussion around Australian craft beer,” Cameron says. “In my opinion it’s a much more valuable recognition than peer judged awards as it’s the general public that vote and it has a far greater impact on sales.”

Steve Jeffares from GABS is naturally thrilled with the response. “We love hearing reports like this from breweries”, he says. “It’s rewarding to know that our poll and festivals play a growing role in encouraging the trade and consumers to explore the growing diversity of Australian craft beer on offer”.