As has become the tradition, the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular’s (GABS) Hottest 100 list was announced over the weekend, this year crowning a newcomer to the competition.
The GABS Hottest 100 is released late January, following Australia Day, celebrating the greatest brews to satisfy the beer-drinking market over the past 12 months.
In a rare show of force, this year’s winning beer was a first-timer – the debutant Status Quo Pale Ale, by Mountain Culture. The brew is said to be a “juicy” New England Pale Ale made for hop lovers that is full-flavoured and “more tropical than the Hawaiian ukulele orchestra”.
Mountain Culture, from Katoomba, usurps Canberra’s Bentspoke, which claimed the top gong for 2020 and 2021 with Crankshaft IPA, but for 2022 slipped back to third place.
Rounding out the podium was a resurgent XPA by Balter, which previously held the number one spot, in 2017 and 2018.
Indicating the time-honoured choices in Australian craft beer, Coopers’ Pale Ale made the top 10 again this time around.
And demonstrating the continued influence of the no- and low- movement, position 33 went to Heaps Normal’s non-alcoholic creation, Quiet XPA, which debuted on the list last year at number 20.
In the spirit of the times, Willie The Boatman’s pale ale featuring a young Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – The Albo – came in at number 56.
GABS has become a national pastime and international occasion, ushering countdown parties across Australia and abroad.
“It provides a national platform for consumers to say thank you to the incredibly talented brewery business across Australia,” notes GABS managing director, Mike Bray.
Full list of Hottest 100 beers of 2022.
