Mountain Culture wants to see Status Quo stay on top of Hottest 100

The GABS (Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular) Hottest 100 Craft Beer poll will see thousands of Australians cast votes for their favourite craft beers of 2023.

Back in January, Status Quo won in its debut on the list, and now Mountain Culture co-owner, DJ McCready, wants to do it again.

"Last year was such a great surprise to take out the number one spot with Status Quo ... given our size, given that we're relatively new and that was the first year that we entered," he said.

"We 100 per cent believe in that beer. If I had one beer to represent what we do as a brewery ... it would be Status Quo.

"But this year, now that we have taken out the top spot, we're really keen to keep it."

Beginning in 2008, GABS asks craft beer lovers across the country to select, in order of preference, their five favourite Australian craft beers.

With hundreds of breweries from across Australia and thousands of craft beers to choose from, it can be a challenging task.

The Hottest 100 is now considered one of the biggest polls of its type in the world, as it sees more than 3,000 beers entered and more than 50,000 votes cast.

The annual people's choice poll is important to the industry as it reveals the consumer trends and breweries shaping the Australian craft beer landscape.

Mr McCready said it promotes what people actually want to drink, which the brewery cares for more than what traditional beer judges and beer awards deem to be what people want to consume.

He added that Mountain Culture is using the Hottest 100 and Untappd (craft beer social media and rating app) as their metrics to determine what people are liking, what they want to drink and where the market is going.

"We exist as a brewery to bring people products that they're going to really want to enjoy," said Mr McCready.

He hopes people are still enjoying Status Quo and Mountain Culture beer in general.

"We haven't entered every beer that we've brewed. We're really looking at Status Quo as the representation of our limited program and we really hope that people get on there again, and give us their support," he said

"Please support the local brewery here in the Blue Mountains. If you haven't tried Status Quo yet, please come into one of our venues or one of the venues around the Mountains that serve Status quo, or pick it up from the local bottle shop and give it a try.

"If you like it, please get on there and support us and help us out with the Hottest 100, and get a Blue Mountains brand back on top of the poll again."

Voting for the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer opens on Friday, December 1. For more information or to vote visit - gabshottest100.com/au.