Australia's hottest craft beer crowned

Nearly two thousand different beers from over four hundred Australian craft breweries attracted votes in the 16th annual GABS hottest 100 Craft Beer poll. After tens of thousands of votes had been counted, Mountain Culture Beer Co’s Status Quo Pale Ale has been crowned Australia’s favourite craft beer for the second year running.

The brewery was founded in 2019 in NSW’s Blue Mountains region by husband-and-wife team DJ and Harriet McCready. It has experienced a rapid rise in the local craft beer scene in just a few years, with a popular core range and frequent limited-release brews appealing to drinkers across the country.

Two previous champions took the second and third positions on the podium: Mick Fanning’s Gold Coast’s Balter XPA won silver and Canberra’s BentSpoke Crankshaft IPA won bronze. It is only the third time in the history of the poll the top three positions have been repeated in the same order as the previous year.

The Top 10 had two new entrants in WA’s Gage Roads Brewing Co Single Fin and SA’s Pirate Life Brewing’s South Coast Pale Ale, joining Victoria’s Bridge Roads Beechworth Pale Ale, SA’s Coopers Brewery Original Pale Ale along with NSW’s Stone & Wood Brewing Co’s Pacific Ale and Young Henrys Newtowner.

63 different breweries were represented in the Top 100, with 28 new contenders making the list.

NSW breweries took out the bragging rights of most beers appearing on the Hottest 100 list with 27 beers on the list and Queensland had 24. A strong resurgence from Victoria saw them close the gap with 22, WA took out 11 spots with ACT and SA both taking eight positions.

According to the award organisers, the most popular new beer released in 2023 was Balter Brewing Co’s Cerveza, which made the list ahead of Mountain Culture’s 2023 Summer Pale Ale collaboration beer with USA’s Sierra Nevada and Heads of Noosa’s Black Japanese Lager.