Heads up: craft beer is here to stay

Godfather of the Australian craft beer industry and for many years a voice in the wilderness, Chuck Hahn, would implore people to "drink more beers, not more beer".

That was back in the 1990s, when cold fizzy lagers dominated - a time when, as Dave Bonighton of Mountain Goat recalled recently, drinkers would complain that craft beers had "too much taste".

Australia's reputation as a nation of beer drinkers has been under threat for some time - beer consumption in 2011-12 was the lowest for 66 years - while wine and cider are on the rise. But the "small" beer industry is big news, with sales up about 10 per cent per annum; it's where creativity and quality can be found.

Having spent some of the past 12 months travelling around the nation, our resident beer critic settles on the nation's 20 best brews.
Click to view gallery: The best 20 Aussie Brews of 2013

Every capital city has a small brewery cooking up brews that, only a decade ago, nobody could have dreamed people would drink. Even regional centres are becoming keenly competitive. Drive between Melbourne and Bendigo and you'll find the fabulous Holgate Brewhouse on the way.

You won't find a bad beer there. In Bendigo there is a beer cafe that has moved away from Australian craft beers to international varieties because, the owner explained, everybody was selling local craft beers and he needed a point of difference.

In my day job I follow the cricket caravan every summer for The Australian.

In Brisbane we drink at the Archive Beer Boutique where they have a vast range of brews that are popular with the hip West End crowd. Over in Adelaide for the second Test there's always been Coopers, and the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Thebarton is a must. In Perth, the bar below the team hotel serves Colonial, the Feral outfit looms large and Nail Ale is a tradition.

Melbourne is beer crazy: Federation Square has the Beer DeLuxe set up and every suburb seems to have a small brewery. And then it's on to Sydney for the New Year's Test and The Local Taphouse, near the SCG, is a beer mecca. If Hobart gets a game it's worth a trip upriver for a Moo Brew at MONA.

The Top 20 Beers is a selection from some of those travels. Pop some in the fridge - and put on the cricket.

Source: The Australian, 16 November 2013