Mountain Culture’s Status Quo Pale Ale has been crowned top honours in the Gabs Hottest 100 Craft Beer Poll for 2023 ahead of Balter’s XPA and BentSpoke’s Crankshaft IPA; marking the first time in the event’s 16 renditions that the podium matched that of the year before.
Since kicking off in 2019, NSW’s Mountain Culture has hit the local and national craft beer scene with serious momentum, offering both a good valued core range and a rotating list of limited-release brews such as Be Kind Rewind which was named the 5th best IPA in the world by Untappd in 2021.
“This year’s winners are an excellent representation of the quality craft beer being made around the country,” said Michael Bornholdt, head of First Choice Liquor Market.
“It’s clear pale ale remains a favourite, with Aussies clearly voting for solid, consistent brews that are true to their style.”
The 2023 awards, announced on Saturday the 27th of January, included tens of thousands of votes across 1,877 beers and 436 breweries. Open to all craft-beer-loving Aussies, the People’s Choice Poll is the best indicator of which breweries, price-points and styles are heading into the new year with momentum.
Results this year reflect an especially strong and competitive domestic craft beer market with 63 different breweries featuring in the top 100, along with 28 beers dropping off last year’s list and being replaced by new favourites.
Whilst NSW took out the top spot in the state vs state contest with 27 beers, the east coast spread was extremely even, with QLD scoring 24 spots and Victoria achieing 22. WA followed with 11 entries whilst ACT and SA featured 8 beers each.
New to the top 10 this year were WA’s Gage Roads Brewing Co Single Fin in 6th and SA’s Pirate Life Brewing’s South Coast Pale Ale in 10th. Balter’s Cerveza Lager was the top performing new beer of 2023, coming in at 45th place, one spot ahead of the second best new performer, Mountain Culture’s Summer Pale Ale.
“Craft fans looking to taste the award-winning beers can head to our national First Choice Liquor Market stores and online where we stock the vast majority of the Hottest 100, with the GABS Summer Invitational pack featuring eight summer-inspired styles also on offer for a limited time,” said Michael Bornholdt.
