The Great Australian Beer SpecTapular festival celebrates the Australian craft beer industry and names the Hottest 100 Australian craft beers for 2021 as voted by Aussie beer drinkers. The live countdown to the results took place on Saturday, 22 January 2022, culminating in one of the world’s biggest people’s choice beer polls.
Fans of craft beer voted in record numbers, and 281 breweries and 2,238 beers were nominated and voted.
The annual ranking is eagerly anticipated by the craft brewing industry, so much so the Australian beer publication Brews News describes the Hottest 100 as the Melbourne Cup of craft beer.
A record 58 breweries had beers listed in the Top 100, but the beer that received the most votes was the Bentspoke Crankshaft American IPA. Canberra’s favourite beer has taken out the top spot yet again crowned Australia’s Number One favourite two years running.
Bentspoke Beer said they were absolutely blown away by the results and thanked their entire team, every bottle shop, bar, club, pub, venue, retailer, draughter, family and friends who believed in them.
Their Instagram post wrote, “We are so humbled by the support you give us every day, and it pushes us to continue doing what we love, making great quality Bent beers.”
The number two favourite beer for 2021 is Balter XPA, but it was a close race to the top position for this Gold Coaster and Queensland’s Number One beer. The brand secured five spots in the Hottest 100, confirming this northerner a true favourite.
Third place and a first-timer on the Hottest 100 ranking is Sunshine Coast’s Your Mates Brewing Co’s Larry Australian Pale Ale.
Your Mates Brewing Co’s posted on Instagram, “Larry is Number 3 in Australia. Are you kidding? We are completely overwhelmed. Thank you. We could go on and on about how much this result means to us, but now is the time to celebrate. Congrats to the other breweries who made the top 100, especially our local Sunny Coast mates. Happy as Larry.”
The GABS team posted on Instagram, “Thank you all for celebrating Australian brews with us! Next year, let’s smash through 50,000 voters; in the meantime, have a great year of beer in 2022 and keep supporting all our amazing breweries!”
The Hottest 100 Top Ten
1. Bentspoke Brewing Co. Crankshaft IPA
2. Balter Brewing Balter XPA
3. Your Mates Brewing Co. Larry Australian Pale Ale
4. Stone & Wood Pacific Ale
5. Black Hops Brewing GOAT Hazy IPA
6. Better Beer Zero Carb
7. Capital Brewing Co. Capital XPA
8. Ballistic Beer Co – Hawaiian Haze
9. Capital Brewing Co. Coast Ale
10. Young Henrys Newtowner Australian Pale Ale
For a complete list of the Top 100, click here.
