Entries and tickets are now available for the Australian Independent Beer Awards (The Indies), with medal and trophy winners to be announced on August 23 at BrewCon on the Gold Coast.
Responding to feedback from entrants, judges and stewards from last year, the Independent Brewers Association (IBA), who organise the awards, have announced a slew of improvements to how competition is scored, trophy classes and beer categories.
“In striving to ensure continuous improvement, we have spent the time between the last year’s awards and now reviewing feedback,” said a statement from the IBA.
The scoring method used to crown Champion Brewery and State trophies will change slightly, with a slight reduction in the point value assigned to silver medals (reduced from 3 points to 2 points) to raise the significance of gold medals.
“Many options have been analysed over the last two years but in the end we feel this is the fairest way to calculate a brewery’s overall performance,” read the statement.
An expanded list of 17 trophy classes has been decided on to categorise the styles in line with consumer awareness, and six new beer styles have been included to cater to all brewers.
“We heard loud and clear the frustration from entrants who could not find a style that fits their beer, especially those that do not brew exactly to style, e.g. lowering the abv percentage for the Australian market,” said IBA.
The six new styles include New World Pale, New World Amber/Dark, New World IPA, New World Imperial or Double IPA, New World Pilsner and New World Lager.
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