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SOUTH East Queensland’s best breweries, craft beer venues and retailers have been acknowledged overnight at annual industry awards, The Beeries, held in Brisbane.

A total of 12 recipients were honoured with awards at the Royal International Convention Centre in Bowen Hills with more than 330 guests in attendance.

More than 3600 votes were received from the public and industry, with eight of the nine category winners determined by a two-step process which involved The Beeries advisory panel compiling a shortlist of finalists which was then released to the public for voting.

The 2019 winners of The Beeries are:

Best Beer Tender sponsored by Liquid Specialty Beverages: Ali Cat, Black Hops Brewery & Taproom
Best Brewery/Cidery Rep sponsored by Liquid Specialty Beverages: Yunling Chow, Stone & Wood
Best Beer and Cider Retailer sponsored by Stone & Wood Brewing Co: Dave O’Shannessy, Brendan Stanley & Jeremy Whish, Black Sheep Bottle Shop
Best Brewer/Cider Maker sponsored by Bintani: Scott Hargrave, Balter Brewing Company
Best New Venue sponsored by CUMULUS Studio: Felons Brewing Co, Brisbane
Best New Brewery sponsored by BOC Limited: Your Mates Brewing Co, Warana
Best Beer List sponsored by Aether Brewing: Brewski, Brisbane
Special Achievement Award sponsored by Balter Brewing: Ben Gibson & Gillian Letham
The Gold Beery for Best Community Contributor sponsored by The Crafty Pint & Beer InCider Experience: Stone & Wood for InGrained Foundation

Member of The Beeries Committee and founder of the Beer InCider Experience Martin Keetels said the event was a great success with a record number of public votes determining a stellar line up of award recipients.

“Votes for this year’s nominees were up a massive 30% on 2018 while ticket sales for the night sold out in record time.

“It was fantastic to see so many people come out to support and celebrate our good beer and cider communities,” says Mr Keetels.

“On behalf of the Advisory Committee I would like to extend my congratulations to all of the award winners and thank our sponsors and those who attended for making our ‘night of nights’ such a success.”

The event’s most prestigious award, The Gold Beery for Best Community Contribution was presented to staff of Stone & Wood for their work with InGrained Foundation.

InGrained Foundation is a national not-for-profit that supports grassroots, environmental and social charities in the areas where Stone & Wood’s staff work and live.

Since 2013, Stone & Wood has donated over $800,000 and in 2019 it launched a Northern Rivers Grants Program and has since awarded grants to The Shift Project, Shaping Outcomes and Bangalow Koalas Inc.

In addition to Martin Keetels, The Beeries Committee consists of Les Riddell, manager of My Beer Dealer, Hugh Doyle, team leader for Brisbane & Sunshine Coast for Stone and Wood Brewing Co, Matt Emmerson, co-owner of Caxton Street’s Brewski, Rory Gibson, columnist for The Courier Mail, Jayne Rutter, co-owner of Helios Brewing Company and QLD state coordinator for Pink Boots Australia, George Levi, sales rep at KAIJU! Beer and Beck McKinney, co-owner of craft beer bar Netherworld.

All proceeds from the night were donated to not-for-profit Brewsvegas which annually celebrates Brisbane’s beer scene with a month-long calendar of events throughout the city each March.

The Beeries is made possible with the generous support of our key sponsor Gallagher Insurance, major sponsors 100 Proof and Liquid Specialty Beverages, supporting sponsors Four Points by Sheraton and CUMULUS Studio, and organising sponsors Redhair Events and Red Stockholm.

For more information on The Beeries please visit www.thebeeries.com.