INDEPENDENT brewers won awards at the Independent Brewers’ Association (IBA) 2017 conference and trade expo in Adelaide last week.

Dan Dainton, whose family operation won the Champion Australian Craft Beer for 2017.

Champion Australian craft beer was awarded to the Cherrywood Smoked Baltic Porter made by the Dainton Family Brewery near Victoria’s eastern Port Phillip Bay city of Frankston.

Eight beer categories – pale ale, amber dark ale, wheat beer, specialty beer, lager, India pale ale (IPA), French and Belgian style and porter stout – were judged among 682 contenders.

The category winners were;

Amber Dark Ale – Eagle Bay Brewing Company, Black IPA.

French and Belgian Styles – Black Font Brewhouse, Organic Saison de Ville.

IPA – Pirate Life’s, Mosaic IPA.

Lager – Australian Beer Company, Yenda Crisp Lager.

Pale Ale – Philter Brewing, XPA.

Porter Stout – Dainton Family Brewery, Cherrywood Smoked Baltic Porter.

Specialty Beer – Rocks Brewing Co, Conviction Pale Ale.

Wheat – Feral Brewing Co, Watermelon Warhead.

Brewing champion companies recognised

Large, medium and small brewing company category awards recognised excellence in contributions to craft brewing.

The breweries winning those awards were:

Small – Wheaty Brewing Corps, which, after more than a decade of pulling beers at the Wheatsheaf Hotel — the Wheaty — in Adelaide’s city-edge Thebarton in 2014 built its own brewhouse.

Medium – Fixation Brewing Co, Byron Bay brewer started in 2015 by Stone and Wood and maker of an India Pale Ale among many of its brews.

Large – 4 Pines Brewing Co, 2008 startup at Manly Esplanade in Sydney, now also brewing at Brookvale and Newport.

Blair Hayden : recognised for services to industry at IBA Awards in Adelaide.

Blair Hayden won the Service Award for personal contribution to industry.

Mr Hayden, from Lord  Nelson Brewery in Sydney, is a three decades figure in the specialty brewing, a trader, story-teller and long-time advocate for the business and the people of brewing.

IBA executive director Chris McNamara commenting on the industry’s 380-plus businesses said: “winners represented a diverse range and wonderful cross-section of the craft industry “.. “In 2015/16 we produced 59 million litres of beer.”

The number of businesses has expanded tenfold in a decade.

Further information: meet the brewers here: 

IBA was formerly named Craft Brewers’ Association of Australia.