EOI's for Indies Awards Judges & Stewards now open

Calling all beer judge extraordinaries and stewarding legends!

We are pleased to be calling for Expressions of Interest to judge and steward at the 2023 Australian Independent Beer Awards (The Indies).

Coming off a record number of more than 1,400 entries in 2022 we are preparing for a big one this year and therefore are coming out as early as possible so we ensure you have enough time to plan – especially if you are considering attending BrewCon as well.

Indies judging will take place at Felons Barrel Hall (Brisbane) from Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 August and EOI’s close on Friday 26 May.

Judges are selected based on their sensory abilities, industry and peer recognition, knowledge of beer styles and the brewing process as well as previous judging experience. Don’t worry, there will definitely be spots for those trying to get into judging!

We understand it is important that the IBA provides a pathway to judging as well as opportunities to learn from those more experienced so we will be ensuring that we allocate positions in our selection process each year.

In response to last year’s feedback, we are also developing an education and training program under the Indies Awards program, which will help our judges in

  1. Understanding how to judge emerging and specialised styles eg. non alc, gluten free and
  2. How to identify faults and understanding what makes a gold medal beer.

Indies judges perform several important roles as they are not only required to assess entries against stringent criteria to determine medals and trophies but they have an important role in providing concise written feedback to assist the maker to improve on identified faults and understand their score. They are also required to work with their fellow judges to come to a consensus on all of these elements in what is a very fast moving process.

Don’t have any judging experience and not sure where to start? Stewarding is the first step in your judging journey. As a Steward, you have the opportunity to be an integral part in the process, to watch how it all happens and to learn the basics of beer judging from some of the most experienced talent in the country.

Find out more

Volunteer Full Judge   Volunteer Associate Judge   Volunteer Steward


If you have any questions, please contact Shev at [email protected]