Chris Shanahan: Wig and Pen shines at Australian International Beer Awards

Judges at this year’s Australian International Beer Awards sipped 1,112 brews from across the world. The catalogue of results makes mouth-watering reading as it lists all of the medal winners across the show’s 19 categories.

Some might be hard to track drown in Australia. But the long honours list includes plenty of readily available beers from breweries of all sizes.

Canberra’s Wig and Pen Brewery covered itself in glory as it has consistently for more than a decade. It won three gold, four silver and four bronze medals across an impressive range of styles. The brewery won golds for its Lambic style Tarty Blonde, Belgian-style Staggered and monumental Russian imperial stout, The Judges Are Old Codgers (but good judges, nevertheless).

But brewer Richard Watkins showed even more versatility. His other medal winning styles included barley wine, Kriek fruit beer, two intense hop-season ales, and a range of pale and dark ales in the Australian, British, American and Irish styles.

The judges’ champions from each of the major categories came from Oregon USA, Dunedin New Zealand, Colorado USA, Western Australia, Copenhagen Denmark, Hunter Valley New South Wales, Sydney New South Wales, Boston USA and Kansas City USA.

The catalogue is available at www.beerawards.com