Feral's Watermelon Warhead judged best craft brew

The craft beer industry in Australia is alive and well, judging by the strong attendance at Friday's second annual Australian Craft Beer Awards.

The awards capped off a busy week for beer lovers in Sydney, with over 140 events taking place as part of the Sydney Craft Beer Week festivities.

At the heart of this surge in appreciation for craft beer is undoubtedly the passion of brewers like the winner of the Champion Australian Craft Beer for 2015, Feral Brewing Co with its Watermelon Warhead wheat beer.

Feral Brewing Co attributed its victory to ‘making beer we like to drink ourselves…and that we’ve got a lot of personal respect for’.

Other prize winners mirrored this sentiment, and the idea that craft beer really just boils down to being part of a social movement - sharing good beer with friends and having a good time.

The notion of comradery also shone through in the beer judging process, which seeks to improve the industry as a whole, rather than just hold up the best and brightest.

An impressive 468 beers were entered by brewers around Australia, up from 282 entrants last year. Obviously with so many entries, not everyone could be a winner. The incentive to partake is the expert feedback provided by the judges, who seek to help brewers to continue to boost the quality of their products.

With such a strong communal approach, the industry looks set to continue its solid growth in the years to come. Cheers to that.

Winners List:

Photograph by Sydney On Tap.