What exactly are the Australian International Beer Awards? Find out here.

It was in 1992 when – internationally speaking – things started to rock for beer for the first time in Australia. In this year it was decided to hold the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) as an international event. The aim was to give the diversity of beers and their many flavors a public platform.

The AIBA was originally established in 1987 – at that time however still a national competition with the name “National Beer and Brewing Awards“. 35 submitted beers, three jury members: not a lot on offer at that time. But that was just the beginning.

Today, the annual competition is the largest of its kind. Both bottled and draft beers are judged in separate categories. And the number of entries shows how popular the AIBA is with breweries. In 2019, the competition attracted more than 2,500 beers from over 400 breweries from 26 countries. The numbers speak for themselves! Traditionally, the medals are then handed out at the Good Beer Week in Melbourne in May.

The winning beers are awarded with medals: gold, silver and bronze. For especially extraordinary beers, there is even a black medal, the so-called Major Trophy. And by the way, that very trophy went to our Kristallweißbier in 2018 – a very special honor! From more than 2,500 beers that were entered in 2018 only 19 received this trophy. And this is proof of just how special it is. In fact, the Kristall has always been successful in Australia, winning at least gold in the last three years and taking home the additional special award in 2018. Further success stories at the AIBA are our Hefeweißbier, that has regularly been winning medals since 2016 (most recently silver) or also our Weizenbock Vitus – also silver at the most recent event. The beers are judged according to a point scoring system. This means to get a bronze medal a beer needs to reach a certain score. Then there is a score for silver and one for gold and a fourth for the special award.

The awards are organized by the “Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria“.