South West Craft Beer Festival: 2020 Review

We can all agree, beer festivals are the shit!

South West Craft Beer Festival came back for 2020 bigger and better then ever, featuring over 20 of the best breweries from WA’s south west, local food vendors and more. The event was held at the Busselton Foreshore right in the heart of town.

Organised by the good team over at Buzz Marketing, the event was well managed and saw thousands walking through the gate to taste amazing craft beer classics, collaborations and one-off brews.

Judging the south west beer of the year

The team at Beer Is OK were asked to assist in judging, along with three others, the 2020 South West Craft Beer Festival’s Beer of the Year. It’s needless to say, it didn’t take much convincing.

In a group, we worked our way around the festival to try each and every brewery. The beers selected were a real mixed bag, with breweries walking us through the tasting notes and fun facts about their beer. The passion for their craft from each brewer was obvious.

The nominated beers from each brewery

The rules for the Beer of the Year competition were simple. Each brewery could select one of their beers available at the festival to put up for judging. Among other things, our primary goal as judges was to rate the beer based on how well they match their style.

All in all, we tasted 20 beers from different breweries (it’s a tough gig, but someone has to do it).

The breweries selected the following beers:

• Beerfarm: Royal Haze
• Boston Brewing Co: Blood Orange Berliner Weisse
• Rocky Ridge Brewing Co: Rock Juice v6
• Bush Shack Brewery: Double Scottish Ale
• Margaret River Ale Co: Pilsner
• Wedgetail Brewing Co: Double Red
• Wild Hop Brewing Company: This Wolf Dog Sour
• Artisan Brewing: Belgian Tripel
• Three Rivers Brewing Company: Northern English
• Full Circle Brewery: Red Ale
• Cowaramup Brewing Company: Reggie Mandarina
• Thorny Devil: Pale Ale
• Blackwood Valley Brewing Company: All Australian Pale Ale
• Bootleg Brewery: Fringe Lager
• Eagle Bay Brewing Co: India Pale Lager
• Black Brewing Co: Blackberry Gose
• Cheeky Monkey Brewing Co: East Coast IPA
• Margaret River Brewhouse: Sour of Power IPA
• Pirate Life Brewing: Belgian IPA
• Colonial Brewing Co: Weiss Bier

The Winner of Beer of the Year for 2020:

Eagle Bay Brewing Co: India Pale Lager

We also want to give mention to The Grove Distillery who had some issues on the day and weren’t able to provide a beer for tasting. Always a pleasure to have a chat and banter with you guys.

While you’re here: leave a comment with your favourite beer in the comment section below!

Finally, a shout-out to the craft beer community

From brewers to reviewers, event organisers to the classic beer punters. The craft beer scene in Australia and especially Western Australia is built around amazing passionate people who love what they do. It was great chatting and getting to know you all. Until next time.

Make sure you check out:

• South West Craft Beer Bogans
• Chris Buckee Reviews Beers
• Beer Nuts WA
• Good Times Craft Beer