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A Sunshine Coast couple has gone ‘ale’ out to win the title of Australia’s best beer, at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show (RQFWS) Beer Awards at the Brisbane Showgrounds today.

Moffat Beach Brewing Co’s Moffs Summer Ale Draught beat more than 400 entries to be named Grand Champion Beer, with owners Matt and Shaz Wilson taking home a $5,000 education bursary.

RQFWS Beer Advisory Group member and judge Steve Henderson said you wouldn’t meet a harder working couple in the beer industry.

“Matt and Shaz work hard to make beer on a small batch scale and it’s great to see how well they benchmark against the bigger breweries,” he said.

“Moffat Beach Brewing Co won four Trophy awards and six gold medals in the competition, which shows they’re consistently brewing high quality beer.

“It’s also exciting to see a typical Queensland summer beer recognised as Australia’s best.”

Meanwhile Ballistic Beer Co from Brisbane won the Desalinated Water Feature Category presented by Seqwater, picking up a $10,000 education bursary for their Gose titled Water Me Lawn.

“Brewing with desalinated water means you’re starting with a blank canvas, so to create an amazing beer with desal shows great skill,” Mr Henderson said.

A total of 402 beers from 51 breweries were entered in the competition, with entries up 20 per cent on last year.

Mr Henderson said the quality of the beers had also increased.

“The standard we saw during the two days of judging was much higher this year – we awarded 46 gold medals compared to 16 in 2019,” he said.

Some of the medal-winners will feature at the RQFWS’s new Kingdom of Beers event this Saturday 7 March at the Brisbane Showgrounds, with consumers given the chance to taste around 100 beers from more than 20 of the nation’s best breweries. The event runs from 1-6pm with tickets still on sale at www.kingdomofbeers.com.au

Below are the 2020 Trophy winners. The full results catalogue is now available by clicking here.

2020 TROPHY AWARD WINNERS

GRAND CHAMPION BEER (Australia’s best beer)
Moffat Beach Brewing Co – Moffs Summer Ale Draught

CHAMPION BEER UTILISING DESALINATED WATER PRESENTED BY SEQWATER
Ballistic Beer Company – Water Me Lawn Draught

CHAMPION SMALL/MEDIUM BREWERY
Aether Brewing

CHAMPION LARGE BREWERY SUPPORTED BY CRYER MALT
Ballistic Beer Company

CHAMPION BREWPUB
Moffat Beach Brewing Co

CHAMPION PALE ALE SUPPORTED BY YAKIMA CHIEF HOPS
10 Toes Brewery – Pipeline Packaged

CHAMPION AMBER DARK-ALE
Aether Brewing – Black as Your Heart Draught

CHAMPION PORTER-STOUT
Sydney Brewery – Potts Point Porter Packaged

CHAMPION HYBRID BEER
Ballistic Beer Company – Oaked XPA Draught

CHAMPION LAGER SUPPORTED BY BARRETT BURSTON MALTING
Sydney Brewery – Surry Hills Pils Draught

CHAMPION INDIA PALE ALE SUPPORTED BY FDB COMMERCIAL INTERIORS
Moffat Beach Brewing Co – Hazed & Confused Hazy IPA Draught

CHAMPION EUROPEAN-STYLE ALE
One Drop Brewing Co – 5 Brett Saison Packaged

CHAMPION SESSION BEER SUPPORTED BY YAKIMA CHIEF HOPS
Moffat Beach Brewing Co – Moffs Summer Ale Draught

CHAMPION STRONG BEER
Felons Brewing Co – Imperial Stout Draught

CHAMPION MIXED CULTURE BEER
Green Beacon Brewing Co – Fathom – Berliner Style Weisse Packaged