“You Beauty” - Dainton’s Ongoing Indies Success.

When you land on the Dainton Beer website you’re immediately greeted with “You Beauty! Dainton Beer Win Big at the Indies!”. The page is trumpeting its 2020 Champion Beer win, but for Dainton it could be from any of the past four years.

Since 2017, success at the Independent Beer Awards is a yearly event for the Victorian-based brewery. That year (when it was still the Craft Beer Awards) Dainton took home Champion Beer for Cherrywood Smoked Rye Baltic Porter. It was backed up in 2018 with Champion Amber/Dark Ale for Red Eye Rye. In 2019 the Triple Dry Hopped version of Red Eye Rye saw the brewery reclaim the title of Champion Indie Beer. And last year, in 2020, Dainton cashed in big with a Trophy for Champion Large Brewery, alongside trophies for Champion Victorian Brewery, and Champion Strong Beer for Apocalypso II - Second Wave NEIPA.

William Smith, General Manager of Dainton Beer, says the Indies is a crucial part of the brewery’s yearly schedule.

“The Indies has such a great reputation and for us, it really is the yardstick for Australian craft brewing. It is an opportunity for us to throw our hat in the ring and see where we sit amongst our brewing peers.” Smith says. “The whole team looks forward to the indies each year. The brewers take immense pride in lining up the production schedule every year so that we are able to provide the freshest possible beers to the judging panel; including hand delivering the entries so we can include a beer packaged on the last day that deliveries can be received.”

This year there might be a window of opportunity for brewers coming at the Dainton crown. There is a new brewery install happening right now, which means the production schedule is slightly different when compared to previous years. The brewery is still entering beers, and will find success regardless.

“Success is measured in so many different ways. Producing beer that hits our own personal standards of quality and presentation makes us happy. It gets us out of bed everyday and it excites us to the core. That is success in it’s own right,” Smith says. “If we can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in the country and hold our own then that is pretty good too.”

The prize in 2020 for Champion Large Brewery came from Cryer Malt and consisted of one tonne of Barrett Burston Malting malt, 500kg of malt from Cryer’s international range, 100kg of hops from Yakima Chief Hops, and 10kg of AB Mauri yeast. Smith says it’s all appeared in the limited releases throughout the year: “especially the hops”.

Steph Howard, Marketing and Sales Support Manager for Cryer Malt, says being able to be part of the brewing process, and the Indies, is a great feeling.

“Supporting the Indies is our way to celebrate Australia’s Independent Breweries and all the amazing work they do. The awards help us connects with breweries of all sizes across Australia and support them as they continue to produce great beer." Howard says. "In a time where catching up for a beer isn’t as easy as it once was, we love being able to get together with our Australian brewing community to share a beer and celebrate all those who play a part in shaping our indie beer industry."

To learn more, and to enter the Indies, click here.