A Grodziskie Wins The Perth Royal Beer Awards

June 10, 2022, by Jono Outred

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A Grodziskie Wins The Perth Royal Beer Awards

"A what?" you may well ask. And with good reason, as it's fair to say you don't see a lot of grodziskies anywhere in the world, let alone claiming the champion beer title in an Australian beer competition.

So hats off to the team at Rocky Ridge (pictured above) for not just choosing to brew one among their vast range of releases, but for doing it so well chief judge Will Irving told The Crafty Pint is was "pure elegance in a glass", adding: "I think people will need Google Translate and a beer guideline. I don’t think a grodziskie has won a trophy before, let alone champion beer of show."

Their Polski Pivo was named Champion Beer at the Perth Royal Beer Awards, held at Claremont Showground tonight (June 10), chosen as the best of 540 beers entered into the competition. The Jindong brewery also walked away with the Champion Large Brewery trophy as well as Best Hybrid & Specialty Beer (Packaged) for Born Under Puncheons. Polski Pivo had collected Best Hybrid & Specialty Beer (Draught) earlier in the evening too.

Brewery founder Hamish Coates told The Crafty Pint: "It's great work for from the team. Stoked for [head brewer] Ross to finally get reward for his Polish beers!

"But seriously, it's so good to take champion brewer in WA. It's awesome. We're so stoked!"

To those who know exactly what a grodziskie is, a doff of the cap. For everyone else, it's an historical beer style with origins in Poland stretching back seven centuries. Sometimes referred to as the "Polish champagne", the smoked wheat ale style is traditionally low in alcohol, light of body and highly carbonated.

Other big winners on the night included Otherside Brewing Co, taking out Champion Medium Brewery, Best Amber-Dark Ale (Packaged) for Redliner (which made The Crafty Pint's Best New WA Beers of 2021), and Best Amber – Dark Ale (Draught) for Harvest. 

Denmark’s Artisan Brewing continued to amass PRBA gongs when they were named Champion Small Brewery, with their Great Southern winning Best Low Alcohol Beer (Packaged). Another double winner was Bailey Brewing's Swan Valley Honey Kolsch, which took out Best European Style Beer in both the Packaged and Draught categories. 

Chief judge Will, whose most recent exploits we wrote about last month, described the awards as "amazing ... as always".

He told The Crafty Pint they had introduced some changes to the scoring of the Champion Small, Medium and Large Brewery trophies due to multiple breweries receiving five or more gold medals: to help them find winners, they added an extra point for any trophies those breweries won.

"I’m glad we introduced this," he said, "as it did come into play this year." 

 

 

A total of 67 golds, 172 silver, and 143 bronze medals were awarded, with 22 trophies given to brewers from across WA. Among them were a couple of newcomers: Campus Brewing won Champion New Exhibitor, and Kalbarri’s Finlay’s Brewing Company took out Best Lager (Packaged) for their Dark Lager.

There were plenty of familiar faces taking to the state too. Best Lager (Draught) was awarded to White Lakes Brewing’s Dark, Best Pale Ale (Draught) went to Cheeky Monkey’s XPA – backing up its trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards in Melbourne last month, while King Road Brewing Co continued their hot streak at awards by claiming Best Pale Ale (Draught) for their Pale. 

Another brewery backing up success in Melbourne last month was Beerland Brewing. Hot on the heels of their Blueberry Clouds winning Champion Australian Beer, they walked away with Best India Pale Ale (Draught) for their just-released Mosaic Smash; the Draught version of that award went to 2021 PRBA champs Blasta’s Unbridled Unicorn. 

Rounding off the trophies, Best Porter – Stout (Packaged) went to Margaret River Brewhouse for their Stout, which makes a change from their usual award for Panther Cream, Best Porter – Stout (Draught) was claimed by Lucky Bay Brewing’s Black Jack, Best Low Alcohol (Draught) went to Feral's Runt, and Best Packaging & Design to Boston Brewing's Great Southern India Pale Ale.

David Thomas, president of Royal Agricultural Society of WA, which puts on the awards, said in a statement accompanying the results: "Domestically, Australian beer and the pursuit of new and innovative ways of brewing is stronger than it has ever been. The calibre of entrants to this year’s awards has been outstanding in its quality and variety."


Perth Royal Beer Awards 2022 Winners

The Otherside team with their Champion Medium Brewery trophy.

 

  • CHAMPION LARGE BREWERY Sponsored by Hop Products Australia:
    Rocky Ridge Brewing Company
  • CHAMPION MEDIUM BREWERY Sponsored by Container Refrigeration:
    Otherside Brewing Co
  • CHAMPION SMALL BREWERY Sponsored by Rossbrew:
    Artisan Brewing
  • BEST NEW EXHIBITOR Sponsored by Little Creatures:
    Campus Brewing
  • CHAMPION BEER Sponsored by Cryer Malt:
    Rocky Ridge Brewing Company Polski Pivo
  • BEST PACKAGING AND DESIGN Sponsored by Containers for Change:
    Boston Brewing Great Southern India Pale Ale
  • BEST LAGER PACKAGED Sponsored by Copper & Oak:
    Finlay’s Brewing Co Dark Lager
  • BEST LAGER DRAUGHT Sponsored by Cryer Malt:
    White Lakes Brewing Whitelakes Dark
  • BEST PALE ALE PACKAGED Sponsored by Copper and Oak:
    Cheeky Monkey Brewery XPA
  • BEST PALE ALE DRAUGHT Sponsored by ALH, The Albion Hotel:
    King Road Brewing Co King Road Pale
  • BEST INDIA PALE ALE PACKAGED Sponsored by Hop Products Australia:
    Beerland Brewing Mosaic Smash
  • BEST INDIA PALE ALE DRAUGHT Sponsored by ALH, The Balmoral Hotel:
    Blasta Brewing Company Unbridled Unicorn
  • BEST AMBER - DARK ALE PACKAGED Sponsored by Short Batch Printing Co:
    Otherside Brewing Co Redliner
  • BEST AMBER - DARK ALE DRAUGHT Sponsored by ALH, The Hyde Hotel:
    Otherside Brewing Co Harvest Red Ale
  • BEST PORTER - STOUT PACKAGED Sponsored by RASWA:
    Margaret River Brewhouse Stout
  • BEST PORTER - STOUT DRAUGHT Sponsored by ALH, The Sail & Anchor:
    Lucky Bay Brewing Black Jack
  • BEST EUROPEAN STYLE PACKAGED Sponsored by Container Refrigeration:
    Bailey Brewing Co Swan Valley Honey Kolsch
  • BEST EUROPEAN STYLE DRAUGHT Sponsored by ALH, The Belgian Beer Cafe:
    Bailey Brewing Co Swan Valley Honey Kolsch
  • BEST HYBRID & SPECIALTY PACKAGED Sponsored by Bintani:
    Rocky Ridge Brewing Company Born Under Puncheons
  • BEST HYBRID & SPECIALTY DRAUGHT Sponsored by ALH, The Queens Hotel:
    Rocky Ridge Brewing Company Polski Pivo 
  • BEST LOW ALCOHOL PACKAGED Sponsored by Lion:
    Artisan Brewing Great Southern
  • BEST LOW ALCOHOL DRAUGHT Sponsored by Gage Roads:
    Feral Brewing Company Runt

You can view the full results, including all medals, here, and check out more photos from the night here.

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