Balter has been voted Australia’s best craft brewery for the second year in a row in the 2019 Australian Craft Beer Survey. From the 23,000 Australians surveyed, it also found a preference for cans over bottles and 93 per cent believe the quality of craft beer in Australia is improving.
In its fourth year, the survey, run by Beer Cartel, is the largest study of Australian craft beer drinking trends. It states craft beer is the only segment of the Australian beer market which is in continuous growth as overall consumption of beer and alcohol experiences a decline.
While Balter remains in the top spot, the votes casted Bentspoke Brewing Co in second place as Australia’s best craft brewery, followed by Stone & Wood, Bridge Road Brewers and Black Hops.
49 per cent of those surveyed say friends and family are their source influence for beer purchases, with brewery venues (45 per cent), brewery staff (40 per cent) and bottle shop venues (38 per cent) also top sources for beer advice.
When purchasing beer, the survey revealed a significant shift in preference for cans (38 per cent) over bottles (27 per cent) for the first time since 2016, reflecting the changing landscape in Australia as the majority of craft brewers now sell beer in cans.
Three-quarters of craft beer drinkers choose 4- or 6-packs as their preferred packaging format, while 40 per cent are buying singles or cases. Within these packaging categories, more than half prefer cases of 24 (42 per cent) than cases of 16 despite the higher total cost, which is also reflected in the smaller packs, with a preference for 6-packs at $29.99 (60 per cent) over 4-packs for $19.99 (38 per cent).
Pale Ale/XPA remains as Aussies favourite beer style, while India Pale Ale/Double IPA is up two percentage points from last year.
The craft beer drinker profile also remains unchanged from 2018, with the average age being 38 years old, while overall there are more female drinkers in the market, with an increase by 3 percentage points.
New South Wales makes up 27 per cent of the craft beer market, however Queensland has increased four percentage points to make up 23 per cent of the market.
For all the results of the 2019 Craft Beer Survey, click here.
