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WA's best beers put to the taste test

Perth Royal Beer Show Associate judges Rachel Bench, Florine Jourdain, Leala Burton and Kate Ferguson. Picture: Michael Wilson/ The West Australian

"It's nice to see you wore your drinking hat" quipped a fellow beer judge as I sauntered into the headquarters of the Perth Royal Beer Show.

But it took more than headware to prepare me for the next two days, as I joined 20 judges from across Australia to taste a record number of commercially produced and amateur beers at WA's premier awards.

471 beers ranging from wheat beer to milk stout were categorised then assigned to four different panels, where we rated each beer's appearance, aroma, flavour, drinkability and trueness to style.

And as our panel of five judges swirled and sipped our way through almost 80 beers in two days, we fought off palate fatigue with a bottomless supply of water, crackers and cheese.

"It's a tough business. We're here to figure out how to capture the best beer for the customer," said chief judge Sean Symons yesterday.

Roger Bussell, one of Australia's long-standing top judges and beer brewers, supervised the sorting and categorising of beers this year. He said Western Australia has seen a dramatic shift in the art of beer brewing and the industry behind it.

"A wonderful change happened in 1994 with the opening of Sail and Anchor, then we started to get some options. The younger generation are now going overseas and getting ideas, which is great," he said.

32-year-old microbiologist Rachel Bench is one of the newest additions to the judging panel, after being recently hired as the fourth female brewer at Little Creatures.

"Generally manufacturing is a more male dominated industry so it is quite refreshing to have more females. I think it balances things out" she said.

33-year-old former amateur brewer Matthew Marinich was also selected for the judging panel, after his first entry into the awards last year landed him a swag of medals, including gold for his English mild called Easy Vader.

"I think a lot about beer ideas. I'm always scribbling down different things to do... For me, sanitation, yeast health, fermentation and temperature and the most important elements," he said.

The winners of the Perth Royal Beer Show will be announced on Friday night at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth.