Australian craft beer fans, colleagues and a smattering of journalists gathered at Village: Wildflower Brewing & Blending & Mountain Culture Brewery taproom last Sunday for the official launch of Sydney Beer Week and the 2024 Beer & Brewer Awards.
The awards recognised the key people, brands, brewers and venues that helped drive Australia’s beer industry through one of the toughest economic times in recent memory. And while there is some negativity in the industry right now, they were put aside for a night of celebration and recognition.
The Awards covered many aspects of the industry from Best Beer Venue to Best Beer Retailer and the Rising Star to the Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year went to Young Henrys Co-Founder, Richard Adamson.
The first award was Best Beer Retailer, with highly commended going to Carwyn Cellars, but the win went to Barrel & Batch in St Peters, NSW and the team told Beer & Brewer: “It’s great to have won this, we can only do what we do with the help of all the producers. We do the best we can to sell it, but if they don’t make it, we can’t do that.”
In terms of what it takes to be a good beer retailer, the team said: “Product knowledge helps, and obviously relationships that are built over time help, but product knowledge and good service is what we focus on. If we’re going to get people to drink independent beer, we need to know what we are talking about.”
Next up was Best Beer Launch, with Balter’s Cerveza earning highly commended, and the double win going to Seeker Brewing’s The Art of Flight and White Bay Brewery for the Sydney Swans 150th Anniversary Lager.
A delighted Seeker team told Beer & Brewer: “This is a fantastic win because I have been to push this concept through with the boys for about two years now and we were worried that the market wasn’t going to react very well, and it was bucking the trend a little bit.
“We wanted to let people try as many strong, fruity beers as they want but without having to commit to the cost or the alcohol consumption, and that led us to doing this.”
The White Bay team described the win as “a surprise”, adding: “It’s great to see some recognition for our 150th anniversary lager with the Sydney Swans.”
Other winners on the night included:
- Best Tap List – Forest Lodge Hotel
- Life of the Party – Brad Nolen
- Rising Star – Emma Locke, Beerfarm and Max Bowering, Uraidla Brewery
- People’s Choice – Mountain Culture Beer Co
- Sustainability Award – Rocky Ridge Brewing
- Supplier of the Year – Bintani
- Brewpub of the Year – The Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton, SA and Brewmanity Brewery & Rooftop, South Melbourne, VIC
- Beer Venue of the Year – Bitter Phew, Darlinghurst, NSW
- Brewery of the Year – Nick Calder-Scholes, One Drop Brewing Co
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Richard Adamson, Young Henrys Brewing
See the picture gallery below for more from the night:
The Beer & Brewer Team 
Nick Becker (Konvoy), Josh Quantrill (Sydney Beer Week), Deb Jackson (Beer & Brewer), Pete Anstey (Sydney Beer Week) 
Lifetime Achievement Award – Adam Richardson, Young Henrys 
Brewer of the Year – Nick Calder-Scholes, One Drop Brewing Co 
Beer Venue of the Year – Bitter Phew, Darlinghurst 
Brewpub of the Year – The Wheatsheaf Hotel (joint winners with Brewmanity Brewery & Rooftop) 
Supplier of the Year – Bintani 
People’s Choice – Mountain Culture Beer Coulture 
Best Beer Retailer – Barrel & Batch 
Rising Star Award – Emma Locke, Beerfarm 
Best Beer Launch – Joint Winners – Seeker Brewing – The Art of Flight and White Bay Brewery’s Sydney Swans 150th Anniversary Lager 
Best Tap List – Forest Lodge Hotel 
Sustainability Award – Rocky Ridge Brewing Co 
Life of the Party – Brad Nolen, Hop Products Australia 
