Moffat Beach Brewing have once again come out on top of their local beer awards, with the Sunshine Coast brewery's Trilogy Best Coast IPA declared the Grand Champion Beer at yesterday's Royal Queensland Beer Awards ceremony.
It's the second year running the brewery's claimed the title with their flagship Moff's Summer Ale winning it in both 2023 after having won it in 2020 - making it three major wins in four years at just one competition for the family-run brewery.
It also continues a remarkable run for owners Matt and Shaz Wilson and their entire team, with their hop-forward beers frequently taking out major trophies at the country's biggest beer awards.
Steve "Hendo" Henderson, who chairs the judges alongside Chris Sheehan, said in a media statement that the brewery had shown they can make consistently good beer, year after year.
“The fact they won Grand Champion in 2020 and 2023 and have backed it up again this year, shows they’re a high-quality brewery consistently outperforming the rest of the industry," Hendo said in a statement.
Other major winners included Melbourne's Stomping Ground, who secured the Champion Large Brewery trophy, Slipstream Brewing with Champion Medium, while Hiker Brewing, who only opened their doors a year ago, were named Champion Brewpub and Best New Brewery.
The awards ceremony took place at the Brisbane Showgrounds yesterday after 48 judges came together to assess more than 600 beers from 87 breweries earlier in the week.
There were also plenty of reasons for the state's up-and-coming brewers to celebrate, with the Froth Rookies, which is made up of students from Queensland TAFE, winning the Champion Amber Dark Ale category for their brown ale. Daniel Thomsen from Slipstream Brewing was named the Emerging Queensland Brewer, while two new categories of trophies - Best Contract Brewer and Best Artistic Beer Label - were won by Mouse Proof Brewing and 10 Toes respectively.
In a media release, Hendo added that there was a marked improvement in the standard of beers entered this year.
“There was less incidence of faults such as oxidation and diacetyl which demonstrates the brewers are now focussed more than ever on beer quality," Hendo said.
The trophy winners are below, while the full catalogue of results can be found here.
TROPHY WINNERS
- CHAMPION PALE ALE Green Beacon Brewing Co – Wayfarer – Tropical Pale Ale
- CHAMPION AMBER DARK ALE Froth Rookies Brewing Co (TAFE Queensland) – Froth Rookies Brown Ale
- CHAMPION PORTER-STOUT Black Brewing Co - Bao Bao Milk Stout
- CHAMPION HYBRID BEER Ballistic Beer – Coup De Grace
- CHAMPION LAGER Perentie Brewing Co – Pure Crisp
- CHAMPION INDIA PALE ALE Moffat Beach Brewing Co – Trilogy Best Coast IPA
- CHAMPION EUROPEAN-STYLE ALE Archer Brewing – Archer Saison
- CHAMPION SESSION BEER Revel Brewing Co – The Reveller
- CHAMPION STRONG BEER Newstead Brewing Co – Alive Birthday Barleywine
- CHAMPION MIXED CULTURE BEER Hudson Brewing – Out of Your Mind
- THE STAR BRISBANE BEST QUEENSLAND BEER OF SHOW Moffat Beach Brewing Co – Trilogy Best Coast IPA
- BEST NEW BREWERY Hiker Brewing Co
- CHAMPION SMALL/MEDIUM BREWERY Slipstream Brewing Company
- CHAMPION LARGE BREWERY Stomping Ground Brewing Co
- CHAMPION BREWPUB Hiker Brewing Co
- BEST ARTISTIC BEER LABEL 10 Toes Brewing – Culture Kick Margarita Lime Gose
- BEST CONTRACT BREWER Mouse Proof Brewing
- THE STAR BRISBANE EMERGING QUEENSLAND BREWER Daniel Thomsen – Slipstream Brewing Company
- GRAND CHAMPION BEER Moffat Beach Brewing Co – Trilogy Best Coast IPA
