There’s nothing quite like a good clash of passionfruit and hops bursting through your palate. In fact, according to that one craft beer wanker friend everyone seems to have, it’s a near-biblical experience. Sure, not everyone is intoxicated by a Double Vanilla Custard Pancake Imperial Nitro Thickshake IPA (that’s a real thing), but you can’t deny the craft beer market has exploded Down Under.
As such, we thought it’d be a fantastic idea to bring together the best craft beers available on the market to prepare your tastebuds for what’s to come. So, get your stubby holder handy, and your esky chilled, because these are the best of the best.
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The Best, according to GABS
The almanac of all that is hazy, pale and pacific, the GABS Craft Beer poll is renowned for unearthing the very best beers you’ve never heard of and in 2024, the list delivered in spades.
The results came in after a lengthy polling process that saw tens of thousands of Aussies register to vote. According to GABS, an incredible 436 breweries and a whopping 1,877 different beers attracted votes.
“There is a reason so many Australian beers, across a range of styles, are currently winning recognition in global beer awards. It speaks volumes for the talented brewers we have in the country and the passion and world class quality they bring to the industry,” GABS’ chief executive Mike Bray told Man of Many.
While GABS lists out 100 amazing beers, we’re going to focus on just a few.
Mountain Culture Beer Co Status Quo Pale Ale
Brand: Mountain Culture Beer Co
Release: Status Quo Pale Ale
Region: Blue Mountains, NSW
Style: Pale Ale
ABV: 5.2%
The two-time GABS Hottest 100 Champion, Status Quo Pale Ale arrives directly from the Blue Mountains’ first brewpub. Brewed by the husband and wife team, DJ & Harriet McCready, the juicy New England Pale Ale captured some serious attention from beer lovers, nabbing the top spot for the second year in a row. The drop is designed for fans of hoppy flavours, with a decidedly more tropical finish than the brewery’s other releases.
“It means so much to our whole team and it’s a huge honour to be voted number 1 by the beer drinking community. It puts us in rare air alongside some incredible company and it’s an honour we don’t take for granted,” Pat Thiering, brand and innovation manager at Mountain Culture told Man of Many.
“For our team it’s just a level or recognition that they truly deserve and you can see what it means to everyone by how hard we celebrated it the last 2 years.”
Balter XPA
Brand: Balter Brewing
Release: XPA
Region: Currumbin Waters, QLD
Style: Extra Pale Ale
ABV: 5.0%
Two-time previous champion, Balter Brewing was pipped at the post this year, but its iconic XPA still managed to score some major accolades. Legends Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Scott Hargrave’s fan favourite finished runner-up for the third successive year, courtesy of its tropical and floral aromatics, not to mention the fruity palette.
Balter says its XPA is suited to those who enjoy a fully-hopped beer that’s still easy to drink, and we’ve got to agree.
While Balter hasn’t taken the top spot in the GABS poll since 2018, it has spent the last seven years in the top three, and has the most beers in the top one hundred, tied with Coopers.
“It speaks volumes about the diverse flavours we aim to bring to your tables (or mouths?), and we’re truly thankful for your appreciation.” Well said.
Bentspoke Crankshaft IPA
Brand: Bentspoke
Release: Crankshaft American IPA
Region: Canberra, ACT
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
After taking out top place in 2021, BentSpoke finished third for the second year in a row. The Crankshaft American IPA scored major points for its familiar West Coast IPA finish, however, there were some nice additions.
Bentspoke believes this beer is perfect for lovers of full-flavoured brews, and is considered an ‘orange’ IPA not only due to its colouring, but its bold notes of citrus and pine. These flavours are enhanced by a floral nose, and capped off by caramel malts that perfectly balance its flavours together.
It might sound like a desert, but trust us, this one will keep you coming back for more.
The Best ‘Fancy’ Beers
The Best Sour Beer: One Drop Brewing Co’s We Jammin’ Sour
Brand: One Drop Brewing Co.
Release: We Jammin’ – Fruited Sour
Region: Botany, NSW
Style: Sour
ABV: 6.2%
One of the more experimental things we’ve come across that can still be rightly called beer, One Drop Brewing Co is well known for its outlandish flavour combinations, as well as its striking can designs.
It’s We Jammin’ Double Fruited Smoothie Sour is no different, mashing together Mango, Guava, Banana and Tahitian Vanilla. The end result is then thickened with lactose and multi-stacked oats, before finishing it off with a “sneaky ol’ bag of icing sugar”.
If that sounds like a lot, it is, and just reading about it makes me feel full. But on a hot day, it’d honestly feel like drinking a delicious and alcoholic sundae, which sounds perfect.
The Best Dark Lager: Heads of Noosa Brewing Co.’s Black Japanese Lager
Brand: Heads of Noosa Brewing Co.
Release: Black Japanese Lager
Region: Noosa, QLD
Style: Dark Lager
ABV: 5.0%
So, you like your beers full of flavour, but still easy to drink? We’ve got the answer for you: Heads of Noosa Brewing Co.’s Black Japanese Lager combines everything you love about both dark ales and Japanese lager’s signature crispness.
The Black Japanese Lager’s dark malts provide hints of chocolate and roasted barley, while the addition of rice to the brewing process makes the lager light on the palate and “ultra sessionable”.
If you’ve always wanted to start drinking dark beer, but just don’t quite have the stomach for it yet, this is definitely a good place to start. You’ll get the flavour and feel of a much heavier beer, but keep the crispy goodness lager is known for.
The Best Fruit Beer: Matso’s Brewery’s Mango Beer
Brand: Matso’s Brewery
Release: Mango Beer
Region: Broome, WA & Sunshine Coast, QLD
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 4.5%
“In the late 90s, a tropical storm swept through Broome, orchestrating a wild dodgeball game with mangoes as airborne missiles. These fallen Mangoes and the scorching Kimberley heat became the inspiration for creating Australia’s first Mango beer”, Matso’s Brewery says about its famous Mango Beer.
Whether that’s true, the beer is fantastic.
It’s made using real Australian mangoes to deliver a subtle sweetness alongside the bitter, dry beery finish we all expect. An absolute stunner on a hot afternoon, the Mango Beer also goes well with chicken and salad: if you’ve ever had Mango Chicken, you’ll understand why.
Man of Many’s Favourite Beers
While we do like relying on experts when picking the ‘best’ of anything, we do also have our own opinions. We did a very informal poll of our office to find out which beers everyone stood by, and beyond the ones already on the list, we ended up with some extras that we want to highlight.
Philter XPA
Brand: Philter Brewing
Release: XPA
Region: Marrickville, NSW
Style: XPA
ABV: 4.2%
The beer that gave birth to Philter’s whole operation, the Philter XPA was first launched in 2017 and has been taking names ever since. Beyond simply being an amazing beer, the XPA has won numerous awards in the past seven years, from being named Champion Pale Ale at the 2017 Craft Beer Awards, to being named the Best XPA in NSW by Vintage Cellars.
It’s popular to infuse your beer with fruit flavours, as others on this list can attest, and Philter nails this too. Aromas of passionfruit, citrus and mango deliver a level of tropical sweetness to the drop that offsets the dryness of the hops.
If you love a cloudy beer for a sunny day, this is the drink for you.
Pikes Beer Co.’s Stout
Brand: Pikes Beer Co.
Release: Stout
Region: Clare Valley, SA
Style: Stout
ABV: 5.2%
“Dark, smooth, and roasty”. If that doesn’t sell you on Pikes Beer Co.’s Stout, I don’t know what will. Brewed in South Australia, Pikes’ Stout is a favourite here in the Man of Many office thanks to its notes of chocolate, cocoa, toasted nuts, and roast malt, while still staying a tad lighter than your traditional stouts.
Pikes’ take on the quintessential ‘steak in a can’ is a bit lighter than a traditional stout, making it go down a bit easier than some others on the market (depending on your preference), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t gonna deliver the goods.
It just makes it a more sessionable beer for those hot summer days to come.
Better Beer OG Zero Carb
Brand: Better Beer
Release: OG Zero Carb
Region: Griffith, NSW
Style: Lager
ABV: 4.2%
Who said beer couldn’t be better? That was the question that led to the creation of Better Beer, which took on the simple yet complicated goal of taking all the bad bits from beer to leave you with a ‘better’ product. Zero sugar, zero carb, low calories, but still full flavour, Better Beer is a fantastic drop that delivers on its promise.
The range has grown, but the mission has remained the same, with Better Beer’s comedian co-founders Matt Ford and Jack Steele doing everything they can to create something they, and their mates, would want to drink.
We’re a fan of the OG Zero Carb beer, which is the perfect drink for those long summer barbecues in the sun. Bottoms up!
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