Balter IIPA declared Australia’s ‘Ultimate’ beer

By Andy Young, TheShout

Craft beer retailer Beer Cartel has published its annual list of Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 Beers, which takes over 200,000 beer ratings to provide insights into Australia’s best beers.

Beer Cartel amalgamates the ratings from four websites and polls (RateBeer, Beer Advocate, Untappd and Australia’s Hottest 100), then applies a ranking formula to collate the data and create its list.

Director of Beer Cartel Geoff Huens said the list, which was first released in 2017, helps to remove some of the bias that other polls and lists may have and provides an alternative way to look at Australia’s craft beer scene.

“Craft beer can be highly subjective, we wanted to remove some of this by combining existing beer lists to give a better representation of what are Australia’s best beers.

“Each of the individual lists (RateBeer, Beer Advocate, Untappd and Australia’s Hottest 100) have their own nuances and consumer base. By combining them we remove these biases, creating a list we believe is a better reflection of Australia’s top 50 beers”, said Huens.

This year independently owned breweries took 47 spots of the top 50 with only three multinational beers featuring.

“Consistent with findings from Beer Cartel’s 2018 Australian Craft Beer Survey, we are seeing consumers strongly favour independently owned beers, with only six per cent of the beers in the list being owned by multinationals.”

Beer Cartel’s Australia’s Ultimate Top 50 beers:

1. Balter IIPA (Imperial IPA)
2. BentSpoke Cluster 8 (Imperial IPA)
3. Stone & Wood Pacific Ale (Pale Ale)
4. Modus Operandi Former Tenant (Red IPA)
5. Nail Clout Stout (Imperial Stout)
6. Boatrocker Ramjet* (Imperial Stout)
7. Balter XPA (Pale Ale)
8. BentSpoke Crankshaft (IPA)
9. Young Henry’s Newtowner (Pale Ale)
10. Feral Tusk (Imperial IPA)
11. Pirate Life IIPA (Imperial IPA)
12. Bridge Road Beechworth (Pale Ale)
13. Riverside 777 (Imperial IPA)
14. Balter IPA (IPA)
15. KAIJU! Krush! (Pale Ale)
16. Hop Nation Jedi Juice (New England IPA)
17. Gage Roads Single Fin (Summer Ale)
18. BentSpoke Barley Griffin (Pale Ale)
19. Stockade The Mountie (Imperial Stout)
20. Your Mates Larry (Pale Ale)
21. Black Hops Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
22. BentSpoke Sprocket (IPA)
23. Capital Coast Ale (Steam Ale)
24. Modus Operandi Future Factory IIPA (Imperial IPA)
25. = Modus Operandi Future Factory IIIPA (Triple IPA)
    25= Akasha Korben D. (Imperial IPA)

27. Stockade Old Money (Imperial Stout)
28. Boatrocker Banshee (Barleywine)
29. Coopers Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
30. Green Beacon Windjammer (IPA)
31. Big Shed Boozy Fruit (New England IPA)
32. Hawkers Beer Barrel Aged Imperial Stout 2016 (Imperial Stout)
33. Balter Captain Sensible (Pale Ale)
34. KAIJU! Where Strides The Behemoth (Black IPA)
35. Mornington Peninsula Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout)
36. Capital Rock Hopper (IPA)
37. Hop Nation The Dawn (New England IPA)
38. Bridge Road B2 Bomber Mach 6.0 (Imperial Black IPA)
39. Coopers Session Ale (Pale Ale)
40. Big Shed Golden Stout Time (Stout)
41. La Sirene Praline (Stout)
42. BentSpoke Red Nut (Red IPA)
43. Balter Strong Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
44. Furphy Refreshing Ale (Kolsch)
45. Mornington Peninsula Squid Supremacy (New England IPA)
46. Philter XPA (Pale Ale)
47. Holgate Millennium Falcon (Imperial IPA)
48. Dainton Blood Orange NERIPA (New England IPA)
49. Capital Trail Pale Ale (Pale Ale)
50. Modus Operandi Sonic Prayer (IPA)