Bridge Road takes out Best in Show

In its first year entering the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show, Bridge Road Brewers from Beechworth, Victoria has taken out Best in Show – Beer for its Robust Porter.

Also crowned Champion Bottled Beer, Robust Porter was one of five beers Bridge Road Brewers entered.

“This year was the first time Bridge Road Brewers had entered in this competition,” explained brewery founder Ben Kraus.

“The decision was made in the hope of getting a strong result and giving the brewery more relevance in the Sydney market. The result was better than expected with all five of the beers entered scoring a medal. The Bling IPA also received a Gold medal, with Beechworth Pale Ale, Chevalier Saison and Bling Bling Imperial IPA all receiving Bronze.

“Personally it’s very rewarding to see our beer recognised by industry experts when judging the beer blindly on its own merits. The team here in Beechworth are always striving for improvement, such competitions allow us to get an unbiased outsider’s view on how we are doing, to receive anything more than a Bronze is exceptional and to win Champion Beer is beyond our expectations.”

Sydney’s Redoak also impressed, taking home Best NSW Beer and Champion Draught Beer for its Redoak Aussie Lager.

Franklin Cider Company dominated the cider/perry classes, winning both Champion Perry and Best in Show – Cider/Perry for its Frank’s Summer Pear Cider.

“Not only is it great for Tasmania to be crowned yet again for quality we are so pleased that our unique production approach and authentic taste is performing well. Our pear cider has always been very popular and no doubt will continue to be,” said Naomie Clark-Port, co-founder of Franklin Cider Company.

Located in the heart of Australia’s Huon Valley apple-growing region, Clark’s family apple farm contains fruit trees dating back more than 100 years.

“Unlike a number of cider products, Frank’s does not include fruit concentrates in the production process. The results are cider products with a very distinctive natural fruit flavour, instantly delivering a just-picked taste experience for both the apple and pear products,” said Clark-Port.

“This approach is obviously working well for us. We are pleased that our apple cider was awarded a Bronze medal too.”

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show saw a team of 26 judges and officials adjudicate their way through almost 200 of Australia’s finest beers and ciders.

“Each judge is an expert, earned from years of professional experience, and although we didn’t see a rise in the number of Gold medals awarded this year, there were an enormous amount of Silvers and Bronzes, which shows the overall quality continues to improve,” said chair of judges, Neal Cameron.

“At Sydney Royal, the judges don’t only taste and rate each product but they provide individual feedback to every exhibitor. It’s great to see the support and dedication to the industry shown by our judges is helping large and small breweries improve and grow.”

For a complete list of the results, click here.