Black Hops Brewery in Burleigh Heads was voted Australia’s best craft brewery followed by Mick Fanning’s Balter, also on the Gold Coast, and Bentspoke in the ACT in the annual Australian Craft Beer Survey.
Richard Kelsey, Director at Beer Cartel said, ”Black Hops have two brewery venues and have just this weekend opened a third in Brisbane. They have nationwide distribution and a strong following of die hard supporters. They have one a lot of things well and been rewarded for it.”
Results from the survey also indicate growth in online purchasing which has moved from 38 per cent of respondents having purchased craft beer online in the past year to 53 per cent having made online purchases of craft beer since COVID-19 began. Purchasing direct from Australian brewery websites and Australian craft beer speciality websites also increased.
The trend for supporting local and independent producers also continues and while Australian and international mainstream beer consumptions declined, Australian craft beer purchases increased. Ninety-three per cent of respondents agreeing that “Australian breweries need our support more than ever”.
Just under 17,000 Australian craft beer drinkers took part in the survey conducted by Beer Cartel from July through until September. Over 200 different organisations helped to promote the survey ensuring that the survey was an accurate cross section of Australian craft beer drinkers.
The survey itself was run between July-September 2020 and contained a range of questions relating to what was called ‘Peak COVID-19’ (April to May 2020) and ‘After Peak’ COVID-19 (anytime after this).
While for some their weekly spend on beer during COVID-19 has dropped, for a proportion, particularly during COVID-19 peak (April – May 2020), spend actually increased as people began stocking up on beer at home similar to other commodities.
