The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) has confirmed that both The Indies Awards and BrewCon will be postponed in 2025, with plans for their return in 2026. The decision was made due to the current challenges faced by the brewing industry and the IBA’s limited resources in organizing such large-scale events.
In a statement regarding BrewCon, the IBA highlighted the increasing difficulty of securing the necessary sponsorship to support multiple industry and consumer events. “The industry is struggling to maintain the level of sponsorship required to deliver the plethora of industry and consumer events. We all go cap in hand to the same stakeholders, and it is important to take a leadership role in this space to conserve as many resources as possible while still delivering maximum benefit,” the IBA said.
The statement also noted the significant time, resources, and financial commitments needed to deliver BrewCon, which is typically managed by larger teams or commercial operations. The IBA, however, operates with a much smaller team of just 2.6 full-time equivalent staff, prompting the need to prioritize activities that will benefit the most members.
As for The Indies Awards, the IBA acknowledged the numerous beer competitions held in Australia but expressed pride in how the Indies Awards have evolved in recent years. Despite the program’s success and the improvements made to its judging process, the IBA pointed out the financial difficulties faced during the 2024 Indies Awards, which ran at a loss due to reduced entries, entrants, and sponsorship income. The current economic climate made it impossible to proceed with the event in 2025.
However, the IBA reassured stakeholders that The Indies Awards would return in 2026 with a revamped format. “We will work with our supportive and committed Advisory Committee to reinvent the program,” the IBA stated. The goal is to better integrate the Awards with the IBA’s direct-to-consumer initiatives and avoid overlap with other beer competitions.
Looking ahead, the IBA will collaborate with the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) in 2025 to highlight independent breweries. As part of this partnership, two new trophies will be introduced: Champion Independent Brewery and Champion Independent Beer.
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