From 73 entries, 13 South Australian breweries took home 56 awards at the 2019 Independent Beer Awards.

Words: Johnny von Einem
Main image: Supplied

Another international beer competition, another great turn out from a congregation of talented South Australian brewers – this time at the second iteration of the Independent Beer Awards.

The competition, founded by the Independent Brewers Association, was formerly known as the Craft Beer Awards, but was rebranded in 2018 to draw a clearer distinction of its focus: independence.

Remarks

See the full Independent Beer Awards results here.

CityMag‘s rundown of SA breweries is ordered from most awards to least, and alphabetical for tied breweries.

For more information on the ownership structure of the Australian beer market, see this handy infographic at Crafty Pint.

The Indies are open to any brewery, Australian or international (so long as the beer is available in the local market), that produces less than 40 million litres per year (sorry Coopers) and is not more than 20 per cent owned by, or does not have a larger than 20 per cent stake in, a brewery that exceeds that limit.

According to the IBA’s figures, there are more than 600 independent breweries across Australia, with one new brewery opening every six days, on average. Competition is hot.

In the 2019 Indies, 147 breweries entered 1021 beers, and of that number 73 entries came from South Australian breweries. Thirteen SA breweries took home 56 awards, giving us a pretty high strike rate, with Mismatch receiving the most awards, and the only trophy: Champion Pale Ale.

See the breakdown of the rest of the SA cohort in the breakdown below.

Mismatch Brewery

Trophies: 2 Gold: 1 Silver: 4 Bronze: 4 Total: 11

Mismatch’s Pale Ale – Champion Pale Ale of the 2019 Indies. This image: Supplied

Trophies
State Champion Brewery South Australia
Champion Pale Ale: Pale Ale (Draught)

Gold
Pale Ale: Pale Ale (Draught)

Silver
Pale Ale: Session Ale (Packaged)
Pale Ale: Session Ale (Draught)
Lager: Lager (Draught)
Mixed Culture Beer: Mandarin Berliner Weisse (Draught)

Bronze
Pale Ale: Pale Ale (Packaged)
Lager: Lager (Packaged)
India Pale Ale: Evil Archie’s Red IPA (Packaged)
India Pale Ale: Evil Archie’s Red IPA (Draught)

Wheaty Brewing Corps

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 3 Bronze: 5 Total: 8

Wheaty Brewing Corps’ bronze-awarded Blood Oats

Silver
Strong Beer: Yeast Coast (Draught)
Mixed Culture Beer: Black Lime Gose (Draught)
Mixed Culture Beer: Danger Zone (Draught)

Bronze
Amber Dark Ale: Blood Oats (Draught)
Porter/Stout: Shiploads Porter (Draught)
Hybrid Beer: Russian Caravan (Draught)
India Pale Ale: Enzed Red (Draught)
India Pale Ale: The Claw (Draught)

Woolshed Brewery

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 3 Bronze: 5 Total: 8

Woolshed Brewery’s bronze-awarded Summer Ale and Amazon Ale

Silver
Hybrid Beer: Firehouse Coffee Stout (Draught)
India Pale Ale: Great Southern Trendkiller (Packaged)
Strong Beer: The Bunyip (Packaged)

Bronze
Pale Ale: Amazon Ale (Packaged)
Pale Ale: Summer Ale (Packaged)
Amber Dark Ale: AAAM Amber Ale (Packaged)
Hybrid Beer: Judas the Dark (Packaged)
Session Beer: River Time Session Pale (Packaged)

Vale Brewing

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 3 Bronze: 4 Total: 7

Vale Ale’s silver-awarded Tropic Ale. This image: Supplied

Silver
Pale Ale: Fox Hat Heavy Handed XPA (Packaged)
Pale Ale: Vale Tropic Ale (Packaged)
Strong Beer: Fox Hat Full Mongrel Russian Imperial Stout (Packaged)

Bronze
Pale Ale: Vale Ale (Packaged)
Pale Ale: Vale IPA (Packaged)
Porter/Stout: Fox Hat Phat Mongrel Oatmeal Stout (Packaged)
Session Beer: Vale Mid Coast (Packaged)

Barossa Valley Brewing

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 2 Bronze: 2 Total: 4

Barossa Valley Brewing’s silver-awarded Chocolate Coffee Stout. This image: Supplied

Silver
Porter/Stout: Russian Imperial (Draught)
Hybrid Beer: Chocolate Coffee Stout (Draught)

Bronze
Pale Ale: Aussie Pale (Draught)
India Pale Ale: Hop Heaven (Draught)

Uraidla Brewery

Trophies: 0 Gold: 1 Silver: 2 Bronze: 1 Total: 4

Uraidla Brewery’s gold-awarded Half Moon Session Pale

Gold
Pale Ale: Half Moon Session Ale (Packaged)

Silver
Lager: Helles Lager (Packaged)
India Pale Ale: Old Ones IPA (Packaged)

Bronze
Pale Ale: Third Eye Pale Ale (Packaged)

Big Shed Brewing Concern

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 2 Total: 3

Big Shed Brewing Concern’s silver-awarded Frankenbrown

Silver
Amber Dark Ale: Frankenbrown (Draught)

Bronze
Pale Ale: Kol Schizel (Draught)
Lager: Royal Park Lager (Draught)

Little Bang Brewing Co.

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 3 Total: 3

Little Bang’s bronze-awarded Scratchy Vinyl India Black Ale

Bronze
Pale Ale: Beard Fiction (Packaged)
Hybrid Beer: Sludge Beast (Packaged)
India Pale Ale: Scratchy Vinyl (Packaged)

Pikes Beer Co.

Trophies: 0 Gold: 1 Silver: 1 Bronze: 1 Total: 3

Pikes Beer Co.’s gold-awarded Barrel-Aged Quadrupel

Gold
European Style Ale: Barrel-Aged Quadrupel (Packaged)

Silver
Lager: Pilsener Lager (Packaged)

Bronze
India Pale Ale: Red IPA (Packaged)

Prancing Pony Brewery

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 2 Total: 2

Prancing Pony Brewery’s bronze-awarded The Zeppelin

Bronze
India Pale Ale: The Zeppelin (Packaged)
Session Beer: XPA (Packaged)

Silver Bark Brewery

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 0 Total: 1

The full Silver Bark Brewery range, including the silver-awarded Belgian Ale (second from left). This image: Supplied

Silver
European Style Ale: Silver Bark Belgian Ale (Packaged)

Sparkke Change Beverage Co.

Trophies: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 1 Total: 1

The Sparkke can range, including the bronze-awarded What’s Planet B? New England Pale Ale

Bronze
Pale Ale: New England Pale Ale (Packaged)

Robe Town Brewery