A Brisbane brewery and a Sunshine Coast distillery have been crowned at the 2026 Royal Queensland Distilled Spirits and Beer Awards, held at the Brisbane Showgrounds.
In the beer competition, Happy Valley Brewing Co in Stafford, Brisbane, won the Grand Champion Beer award for its 50K IPA. In the distilled spirits competition, Nil Desperandum from Woombye on the Sunshine Coast received the Grand Champion title for its Premier Rum.
Beer competition co chief judge Steve Henderson said the Grand Champion beer stood out during judging.
“The 50K IPA was fresh and vibrant, and the aroma just absolutely punched you in the nose,” he said.
“The flavour matched the aroma beautifully and it had good body and carbonation.”
The beer competition, relaunched in 2019, attracted 704 entries this year, up more than 30 per cent on 2025.
“The entry numbers tell a really good story – the industry has had a tough couple of years and it’s just starting to turn around again which is fantastic to see,” Henderson said.
In the spirits competition, Nil Desperandum won five of the 10 trophies awarded. The distillery was also named Best Queensland Distillery and won the Champion Feature Rum or Cane Spirit Trophy for its Artfully Corrupted Spiced Rum, along with Best Queensland Distilled Spirit for its Premier Rum.
Now in its third year, the spirits competition attracted almost 100 entries. Distilled spirits competition chief judge Dave Withers said the overall quality reflected increasing diversity and experimentation in the sector.
“When I first started judging distilled spirit competitions eight years ago, we certainly didn’t see the same level of diversity, boldness and experimentation that we’re seeing today,” said Withers.
The Royal Queensland Awards cover seven categories: distilled spirits, beer, wine, beef, lamb, dairy and ice cream.