Sometimes it takes news a while to travel long distances, such as the 8,000 miles between San Diego and Melbourne, Australia, where the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards was held back in May. One of the world’s largest annual competitions with more than 2,500 entries from over 400 breweries in 21 countries, the AIBAs award multiple gold, silver and bronze medals in a variety of categories. It’s different than the singular first-, second- and third-place awards awarded in most U.S. competitions, such as the Great American Beer Festival or World Beer Cup. AIBA awards come down to scores individual beers achieve versus a king-of-the-hill mentality.
This year, four San Diego County brewing companies entered the competition, with each of them bringing home at least one medal. North County-based Belching Beaver Brewery fared best, nabbing two gold medals—one in the New World Style Pale Ale category for its No Worries IPA, a new West Coast IPA it debuted this May, and another in the Other Flavored Specialty Beer category for its Mexican chocolate peanut butter stout, Viva La Beaver, which earned a bronze at this year’s inaugural San Diego Beer News Awards.
The most medals went to Kearny Mesa’s Two Roots Brewing earned the most medals, with three in the Non-Alcohol Beer category for Straight Drank Non-alcoholic IPA (silver), Enough Said Non-alcoholic Helles (bronze) and New West Non-alcoholic IPA (bronze).
Rounding things out with a medal apiece were Coronado Brewing, which took silver in the American Style IPA category for its GABF-awarded Weekend Vibes IPA, and Stone Brewing, which garnered a bronze in the Other International Style Lager category for Stone Buenaveza Salt and Lime Lager.
LOCAL WINNERS
Gold
- New World Style Pale Ale: No Worries IPA, Belching Beaver Brewery
- Other Flavored Specialty Beer: Viva la Beaver, Belching Beaver Brewery
Silver
- American Style IPA: Weekend Vibes, Coronado Brewing
- Non-Alcohol Beer: Straight Drank Non-alcoholic IPA, Two Roots Brewing
Bronze
- Other International Style Lager: Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager, Stone Brewing
- Non-Alcohol Beer: Enough Said Non-alcoholic Helles, Two Roots Brewing
- Non-Alcohol Beer: New West Non-alcoholic IPA, Two Roots Brewing