Sydney Royal Beer Show results

Thanks to Matt again for his Australian Brews News. Always something interesting in it, and I recommend subscribing.

Last week, he wrote about the results of the Sydney Royal Beer Show competition, with some interesting, if not necessarily stellar, results.

Being the inveterate number cruncher that I am, I felt an analysis was necessary. Based on the medal list, I have the following conclusions. (Note I only have the medal winner list, not the full list of entrants).



Matilda Bay and Redoak lead the way with trophies and golds. Nail Brewing demonstrates the highest "average" score of 100% gold.... but this is due to one beer only, the Nail Stout, which is arguably Australia's finest of that category.

It would be good to know who's missing. There are some notable micros, but also some majors, including corporate-owned craft ventures (Malt Shovel, Matilda Bay).

Matilda Bay's frequent success is mostly due to the Alpha Pale Ale, which for mine is the best (widely available) American Pale Ale in the country. It tends to also win on the backs of Beez Neez (which corners the Other/Specialty Beer category) and Dogbolter.  Interestingly, Dogbolter was pipped in both bottled and draught dark lager categories by Hunter Bock and Redoak Oktoberfest respectively.

The Beer Frontier

Yeah I guess I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but I recently learnt of a 13-part show that appeared on Channel 31 in Melbourne, late 2010. It's on the ubiquitous yoochoob, of course.

"The Beer Frontier" is hosted by a couple of knockabout blokes, Gage Rossiter and Robert Jackson. Each episode deals with a particular style of beer, evaluating local and imported offerings. Gage will visit a local (read Victorian) brewery, while additional segments on homebrewing and cooking with beer are provided by Ben Lee & Enzo Frisini respectively.

I've now seen the first five episodes, and am overall quite impressed. It's the sort of thing I long dreamt of doing myself.

It's a bit hit-and-miss in some areas. There's the occasional factual error, and sometimes Gage tends to come across as a little bit too self-serious (as opposed to Robert who can barely hide his eagerness to open the next bottle - my kinda bloke), but these are only occasional hiccups in an otherwise worthy production.

To paraphrase the guys (and Miles Barlow)........  4 stars.