A hark back to brewing the way it was 7,000 years ago has seen Moa Brewing Co. take away three awards for its sour beers at the Australian International Beer Awards in Melbourne last week.
Moa’s Sour Grapes 2014 Vintage and Cherry Sour 2013 Vintage each scored a silver in the Other Belgian/French Style Ale category to pip offers from Italy to the US and even China. Moa’s Sour Blanc 2012 Vintage was then awarded a bronze in the Best Belgian/French Style Ale section otherwise dominated exclusively by Belgian beers.
A further six gongs were tallied up across the evening via variants from the brewery’s diverse range, totalling nine awards across the evening. The AIBA, conducted by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV), is the largest annual beer competition in the world assessing both packaged and draught beer.
Sour beers have an intentionally acidic and tart taste to them, made by allowing wild or naturally occurring yeast strains into the brew. “We’ve been working on our sour program for six years now,” says head brewer David Nicholls, “and we’re really pleased at how the beers have developed over the last few years in particular. With sours being the hot category in the US craft scene right now, it’s fantastic to get some kudos that we’re delivering some world class beers.”
New Zealand brewer’s growing reputation for excellence was highlighted by ParrotDog, Epic, Lion and DB picking up trophies, with ParrotDog also picking up the title of Champion Small International Brewery.
The full list of winners can be found at http://www.rasv.com.au/Events
