Canberra’s Bentspoke Brewing Co has won two Gold medals at the International Brewing & Cider Awards 2024.

The brewing industry ‘Oscars’, which date back to 1886, were held in Manchester last week, with the winners announced following three days of deliberation from an international panel of 38 judges from around the world.

Thirty Gold beer medal winners were awarded, including six from Japan (Isekado Brewery, Kirin Holdings Company and Spring Valley Brewery) and one each from China (Tsingtao Brewery), Taiwan (Buckskin) and Thailand (Chang). 

Bentspoke Barley Griffin took home Gold in Class 1 for Ale 2.9% – 4.4% ABV, while Freewheeler won gold in the International Non & Low Alcohol Beer Competition.

Barley Griffin is a mild cloudy Australian pale ale with soft fruity aromas and light biscuity malt.

Bentspoke Freewheeler was released last year and features citrusy zest and tropical aromas, harmonised with a subtle hint of caramel malt.  

Director of the International Brewing & Cider Awards Ruth Evans MBE said: “It’s been an honour to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary beers and ciders across the world at our new home here in Manchester. 

“We support the brewing and cidermaking industry on a not-for-profit basis, and the Awards has a long and rich history championing the best beers and ciders going into market.  

“This week, we’ve had some of the best brewers and cidermakers in the world judge our prestigious competition and I’d like to personally thank all of them, as well as all the brewers and cidermakers who entered their products to make this year’s Awards one to remember. “

Chair of Beer Judging Rob McCaig said: “We’ve had such an outstanding line up of judges from all corners of the world, and they’ve all done a remarkable job tasting and evaluating some of the finest beers from around the globe.  

“This year proved to be one of the toughest yet to determine which of the beers were deserving of a medal. We had an exceptional amount of great quality beers enter this year, making the job of our judging panel extremely difficult. It’s a shame we couldn’t award more medals, as there were so many beers that were deserving of the accolade – some of which narrowly missed out.  

“We saw a significant increase in entries in the Non & Low Alcohol category, which reflects the growing demand in the industry, and also saw an influx of international brewers enter the Smallpack Ale category, which is very promising. Historically, this category has often been dominated by the UK, but this year saw the inclusion of breweries from Japan, North America and South America.”    

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