Looking Back On 13 Years of the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers
It's been 13 years since the first iteration of the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll. The Local Taphouse's Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers 2008 took place at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda, Melbourne. Only a few hundred votes were placed in the first poll and as a result there were a large number of equal placings in the first ever poll.
The poll was known as The Local Taphouse's Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers for the first 3 years of its existence. In 2011 it was rebranded the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers in line with the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular (GABS) which was also created and run by the owners of The Local Taphouse. The name flip flopped a little between The Local Taphouse and GABS until 2016 when another re-brand took place and the logo still in use today was settled upon
It's a little terrifying looking back on the original results and realising how long it has been. It also brings back fond memories of beers that haven't been brewed in a long time like Murray's Icon 2 IPA, Jamieson's Beast IPA, Matilda Bay's Alpha Pale Ale & Holgate's Hopinator.
GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers 2008
| Brewery/Beer | Style | |
| 1 | Little Creatures Pale Ale | American Pale Ale |
| 2 | Murray's Icon 2 IPA | Double IPA |
| 3 | Mountain Goat Hightail Ale | American Amber Ale |
| 4 | Knappstein Reserve Lager | Pale Lager |
| 5 | Little Creatures Bright Ale | Australian Pale Ale |
| 6 | James Squire Golden Ale | Golden Ale |
| 7 | Coopers Sparkling Ale | Australian Sparkling Ale |
| 8 | Coopers Pale Ale | Australian Pale Ale |
| 9 | Holgate Mt Macedon Pale Ale | American Pale Ale |
| 10 | James Squire Amber Ale | English Brown Ale |
| 11 | Jamieson Beast IPA | American IPA |
| 12 | Murray's Nirvana Pale Ale | American Pale Ale |
| 13 | Holgate ESB | Extra Special Bitter |
| 14 | Hargreaves Hill ESB | Extra Special Bitter |
| 15 | Murray's Grand Cru | Belgian Tripel |
| 16 | Nail Stout | Stout |
| 17 | Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale | American Pale Ale |
| 18 | Holgate Hopinator | Double IPA |
Long time podium finisher Feral Hop Hog started out at number 72 in 2008, making a massive leap to 7th in 2009 and 4th in 2010 before finally making the podium in 3rd in 2011 and then 1st in 2012 where it remained until 2015 when it was pipped by Stone & Wood's Pacific Ale.
GABS Hottest 100 Top 3 2008 - 2020
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | |
| 2008 | Little Creatures Pale Ale | Murray's Icon 2 IPA | Mountain Goat Hightail Ale |
| 2009 | Little Creatures Pale Ale | Murray's Icon 2 IPA | Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale |
| 2010 | McLaren Vale Vale Ale | Little Creatures Pale Ale | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale |
| 2011 | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Little Creatures Pale Ale | Feral Hop Hog Pale Ale |
| 2012 | Feral Hop Hog Pale Ale | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Little Creatures Pale Ale |
| 2013 | Feral Hop Hog Pale Ale | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Little Creatures Pale Ale |
| 2014 | Feral Hop Hog Pale Ale | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | 4 Pines Pale Ale |
| 2015 | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Feral Hop Hog Pale Ale | Pirate Life IIPA |
| 2016 | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Pirate Life IIPA | Feral Hop Hog Pale Ale |
| 2017 | Balter XPA | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Bentspoke Crankshaft IPA |
| 2018 | Balter XPA | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Bentspoke Crankshaft IPA |
| 2019 | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Balter XPA | Bentspoke Crankshaft IPA |
| 2020 | Bentspoke Crankshaft IPA | Stone & Wood Pacific Ale | Balter XPA |
There's an interesting trend in brands that are bought out slowly exiting the podium. Little Creatures, Feral & Balter have all made slow exits cascading single spots over the course of years post buy-outs.
The GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers is nowadays possibly the biggest people choice craft beer poll in the world, with a record of almost 40,000 people placing more nearly 200,000 votes in 2020! Unfortunately the number of votes in previous years wasn't released so we can't see how the number of votes has changed over time but having started with only a couple of hundred in 2008 the poll has come a long way in the last 13 years.
Have any questions in regards to the above? Have we missed something? Let us know if the comments.
Cheers 🍻