from Fresh, The West Australian,  May 25
By Vic Crossland

Taste of success prompts thirst for more

"We won a lot – now we want more." That"s the WA wash-up to the Australian International Beer Awards. Little Creatures grabbed the prestigious Champion Australasian Brewery title, but Colonial Brewing claims it should be named Champion Small Brewery to make a clean sweep for WA breweries.
   Last week Colonial boss Ross Smith took legal advice then lodged a formal protest to the AIBA awards committee in Melbourne. He said he expected the decision to present the Small Brewery crown to Paddy"s of NSW would be overturned.

"We reckon the points were counted wrongly," Mr Smith said. "It wasn"t even a draw. Under the rules, the beers we entered in the small brewery section scored higher than Paddy"s Brewery"s average. They"ll have to give the title to Colonial."

Colonial"s achievements – four "best in class" trophies for Dr Quick strong ale and winter porter Gully Washer, plus 14 medals at only its second AIBA attempt – had caused rejoicing back at the Margaret River brewery before the protests started.. 

Mr Smith was full of praise for his brewer, Dean McLeod. "Dean"s done wonders. All our ales were very good, but he"s brought them up to a new level," he said. "He should have been up on the stage (at the May 11 presentation) accepting the Champion Small Brewery trophy."

Colonial"s other medal winners were 18 Hands brown ale and Back Breaker summer ale, helping make it Australia"s dominant ale microbrewery, according to Mr Smith.
Unaware of the fuss,  Fremantle"s Little Creatures celebrated being Champion Australasian Brewery for its Pale Ale, Rogers" and Pilsener.

"It"s a tribute to consistently maintaining good beer standards. We"ve a pretty talented brew team at Little Creatures and we"re very proud," head brewer Simon Bretherton said. "We"ve been in contention for years – in fact we won this title on the second attempt in 2002 – but it"s still great to be judged champion brewery." The trophy was given a place of honour on the brewers" bench, visible from the bar at the Mews Road venue.    

Last Drop Brewing Co, is another confirmed champion, Best New Exhibitor. It  picked up a trophy and gold medal for wheat beer and silvers for pilsner and light. 

"We did send beers to the awards in the early days of the Elizabethan Village, but it"s a different brewery altogether now," proprietor Wally Lenz said, praising Czech-trained brewer Jan Bruckner.

Matso"s brewer Mal Secourable welcomed news of the Broome brewery"s success with a mixture of surprise and relief. "We had serious trouble with the boiler, losing several days at a critical time, and trusted that the four beers entered would come right after we despatched them to Melbourne," he said.

Matso"s Smokey Bishop dark lager won two best in class trophies and two gold medals, in the Australasian and small breweries sections. Lesser medals came for its Aussie-style River Rocks lager and Monsoonal Blonde wheat beer.

The Sail and Anchor"s long-established Brass Monkey Stout deserved the high accolade of best dry stout  trophy and gold medal. Fremantle Pils and IPA won silver, and brewer Richard Moroney"s more way-out styles - Brew Berry blueberry and blackberry ale, oaked Winter Warmer and Buckley"s spice-and-herb wheat beer - scooped medals too. "Not bad after only six months in the job, eh?" Moroney commented at the after-awards party. . 

Gage Roads made an impressive debut with eight silver and three bronze gongs. "It was a tight competition with very few golds awarded and we"re very happy that each of the three beers we entered won at least two silver medals," brew director Peter Nolin said. Gage Roads had rushed a consignment of its new India Pale Ale to Victoria just in time to join Pure Malt Lager and Pils in the judging. In the event, it tied with the magnificent Emerson"s 1812 IPA of NZ.

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QUICK ONES

For the first time in seven years, the Grand Champion beer is Australian – but still almost unattainable. Redoak Special Reserve is served draught only at one Sydney café, only on special occasions, only when pre-ordered and only in 50ml serves at $17 a time. It"s a 12 per cent barley wine kept in oak for two years.. 

Redoak entered a staggering 34 beers in the awards, all from one NSW craft brewery. Next most prolific exhibitor was the Boston Beer Co – 31 entries from five different breweries in the US.

Oddly, none of the five beers entered in the awards by Swan Brewery of Canning Vale was a Swan or Emu brand.
  
Of only 24 gold medals awarded in more than 120 categories of beer, six went to WA. One rare gold was awarded to a beer I"ve raved about in this column, bottle-conditioned BridgePort IPA from Oregon. Although Champion Ale, it is not sold in Australia.

Quiet achiever: West Leederville wholesaler Phoenix Beers brought home 11 medals for its German and Belgian imports, including a gold for Weihenstephan Kristall wheat ale.

  

Two of WA"s award-winning brewers are quitting their jobs. Mal Secourable of Matso"s is back from Broome assessing the Perth scene and Richard Moroney is laying down a final few brews at the Sail and Anchor before moving on next month. 

Party keg
When draught-beer lovers want to party, serving from standard kegs with gas cylinders and complicated taps can be fiddly and messy, and pouring from gravity feed party kegs can flatten the mood.
That"s why Heineken has come up with an alternative – a lightweight all-in-one system. Holding five litres of full-strength lager and weighing 5.5kg, the Heineken Draught Keg is an integrated pressurised and disposable system with mini tap in a recyclable steel keg. Its patented carbonator pressure unit releases  CO2 to keep the pressure constant for a crisp dispense and foaming head.
After chilling the keg in the fridge, beer drinkers click the tap tube on to the top and start pouring. They should manage about 18 glasses of lager per keg.
"We believe this mini keg is a truly innovative way for lovers of premium beer to share a Heineken," said Heineken Australia managing director Hans Erik Tuijt.
The Heineken Draught Keg is now in liquor shops, costing about $36.95. Party animals should hurry - the previous release of kegs sold out within weeks.