“I do think people are accepting hop beer and more bitter beers more and I’ve noted in the last couple of years that darker beers are becoming a bit more generally accepted and easier to sell into the market,” Feral’s owner and brewer Brendan Varis said. “But [our success] goes back to our name “Feral”. “It’s all about making beers as a team of brewers we’re personally attracted to and we like to drink and not worry about making sure they’re inoffensive or designed to suit everyone or a mass market. “For the niche of craft beer, which really should be about distinctive and interesting, and not toned down, our mission statement is to operate squarely there and we’ve hit the nail on the head.” Of the top 100 Australian beers listed, Feral had five entries, two of which were in the top five.

The brewery’s unlikely fourth-place winner was the Watermelon Warhead, made with watermelons sourced locally to its Swan Valley home. “We’re always looking for different flavours in beer, we don’t like to drink the same thing all the time,” Mr Varis said. “We look at ‘What else can we put in them?’” Mr Varis said the placings were especially surprising and rewarding given the family brewery’s low level of distribution.

“We’re just a little brewery out in the Swan Valley so we don’t have a broad distribution so for us to get more votes is great,” he said. “Especially with the Watermelon Warhead; we might have made 100 kegs ever of it, whereas others we might have 100 per week.” Australia’s Best Beers editor Peter Mitcham said Feral had won out over other brewers in the eyes of the 39-strong judging panel because of its unique style. “I’m a big fan of the belief that brewing is 50 per cent science and 50 per cent art and I think Feral have just nailed it,” he said. “There are so many beers in the marketplace that to be heard above the noise, you need a catchy label or name and also back that up by being a well-crafted product.

“Beer drinkers will turn on you in a second if the beer doesn’t match the hype.” Other WA breweries included in the 100-strong list are Little Creatures, Bootleg, Nail Brewing, The Monk and Cowaramup Brewing Co. “There’s been about 50 in and 50 out over the three years,” Mr Mitcham said. “Little Creatures has maybe received a little bit of blowback from the fact they’ve been recently bought by Lion Nathan, there may be a feeling among craft beer lovers that it’s no longer a small independent craft brewer, but the beer is still good enough to be in the top ten beers. “There are brewers that come and go, but you just won’t find anyone who says Feral’s no good.”