Balter XPA again tops Australian craft beer’s Hottest 100

A lager-than-life competition has seen Australians crown a Queensland craft beer their favourite bevvy.

Craft beer connoisseurs from across the country voted in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers for 2018 and picked Gold Coast brewery Balter’s XPA as the No.1 beer.

It’s the second time Balter’s XPA won the top spot and the brewery is part-owned by part-owned by surfing stars Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Josh Kerr and Bede Durbridge.

Another two Balter beers made it into the top 10 list this year and Queensland breweries dominated the top 100 list.

The #Hottest100Beers Next Beers (191-200) are out. I know it's all popularity/distribution, but I hope some of my fave brewers make the lists next year: –@wildflowerbeer deserve to be there@threegreensbrew very new & small, expect big things@FogHornBrewpub every beer a winner

— Tim Welsh-Eliot (@timwelsheliot) January 27, 2019

We all need to shout @gabsfestival a beer for their work on the #hottest100beers this afternoon. The discussion has been awesome. Hasn't helped my workload though.

— Matthew Beggs (@MatthewBeggs) January 27, 2019

“This year’s list is again very revealing about what people are drinking and enjoying, whether that’s a more mainstream Pale Ale or a Strawberry Rhubarb Sour from their favourite Sunshine Coast local,” GABS co-founder Steve Jeffares said.

“With breweries opening in all corners of the country, pushing the boundaries of style, technique and creativity, there’s really never been a better time to be a craft beer drinker,” he said.

The runner-up was iconic Byron Bay brew Pacific Ale by the Stone & Wood brewery, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Third place went to Crankshaft beer by Canberra brewery BentSpoke.

Where voters were from appeared to have an impact on the results, with craft beer drinkers supporting breweries from their immediate region.

More than 155,000 beer lovers cast their votes to pick the nation’s top brew.

THE TOP 10

1. ‘XPA’ American Pale Ale (Balter, QLD)
2. ‘Pacific Ale’ Australian Pale Ale (Stone & Wood, NSW)
3. ‘Crankshaft’ American IPA (BentSpoke, ACT)
4. ‘Newtowner’ Australian Pale Ale (Young Henrys, NSW)
5. ‘Beechworth Pale Ale’ Australian Pale Ale (Bridge Road, VIC)
6. ‘IPA’ Imperial IPA (Balter, QLD)
7. ‘IPA’ American IPA (Balter, QLD)
8. ‘Krush! Tropical Pale Ale’ Pale Ale (Kaiju! VIC)
9. ‘Jedi Juice’ New England IPA (Hop Nation, VIC)
10. ‘Single Fin’ Australian Pale Ale (Gage Roads, WA)

The top 100 also brought much discussion.

-AAP