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Black Hops is an Australian craft beer brewery based on the Gold Coast, in the state of Queensland. They are the 2018 AIBA Champion Small Brewery and the 2019 Royal Queensland Champion Brewery.

Black Hops currently operates two breweries, in Burleigh Heads and Biggera Waters, both of which incorporate an on-site taproom for visitor tastings, takeaways and brewery tours.

As of December 2019 Black Hops produces 120,000L of beer per month, distributing to over 1,000 venues around Australia.

Black Hops Beers
Black Hops produces a core range of six beers in cans, consisting of:


 * Mid Range (mid strength Pale Ale): ABV: 3.5%
 * Send It (Session Ale): ABV: 4.2%
 * Lay Day (Lager): ABV: 4.4%
 * Pale Ale: ABV: 4.8%
 * Hornet (IPA): ABV: 6%
 * Super Hornet (Double IPA): ABV: 8.7%
 * G.O.A.T. (Hazy IPA): ABV: 6.0%

They also produce a rotating range of seasonal and limited release beers including; Eggnog Stout, Code Red (Red IPA), Flash Bang (White IPA), Beach House (Saison) and Pink Mist (Raspberry Saison).

In July 2019 Black Hops released their 100th beer, a continuously hopped IPA called #100.

All of Black Hops beers are made with no preservatives and are unpasteurised.

The Black Hops Story
Black Hops was founded by Dan Norris, Eddie Oldfield and Michael McGovern, three mates with a love of beer and a grand idea.

In 2014 they home brewed their first beer, an Eggnog Stout, based on a recipe that Eddie came up with. Encouraged by the response and having settled upon the name ‘Black Hops’, they proceeded to gypsy brew a larger batch of Eggnog Stout, launching it to the public at HooHa Bar in Brisbane on 2 November 2014.

In early 2015 they ramped up production and started getting their beers out in bars and clubs, before deciding to take the next step and open their own craft brewery.

Following an intensive period of raising capital and building the brewery, on 18 June 2016 the doors to the Burleigh brewery and taproom were opened.

In April 2017 Black Hops moved from brewing their beer in bottles to cans, launching this change with their flagship beer, Pale Ale.

In March 2019, off the back of a record equity crowdfunding campaign, Black Hops opened a second, larger scale production brewery and custom designed 150sqm taproom (BHII) in Biggera Waters, on the northern end of the Gold Coast.

In April 2019 Black Hops expanded their beer distribution operations into other Australian states, making their beer available in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

In July 2019 Black Hops released their 100th unique beer, a continuously hopped IPA called #100.

Collaborations
Activision/Call Of Duty Midnight Pale Ale

In a world first, in October 2015 Black Hops collaborated with international video games giant Activision to produce the world’s first Call Of Duty craft beer, Black Hops III, a Midnight Pale Ale in honour of the Call Of Duty: Black Ops video game.

Flying The Flag In The Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race

On 26 December 2019 the Black Hops logo was hoisted on the spinnaker of KatWinChar, a yacht which competed in the Sydney To Hobart yacht race. Black Hops also brewed a limited edition KatWinChar Pale Ale to commemorate the event.

Operation Brewery: The Black Hops Book
In 2016 Black Hops published a book called Operation Brewery, which tells the story of the launch of the Black Hops brand and brewery, as well as providing transparent details on how to build a brewery on a budget.

Investment: Crowd Funding
Throughout their evolution, Black Hops have tapped into both crowd funding and investment revenue streams to help fund their set-up and continued expansion.

In March 2015, with preparations for the launch of Black Hops underway, 2 initial investors were brought onboard. The three founders recorded the first of an ongoing podcast series, the Operation Brewery Podcast, delivering a transparent insight into the processes of investment, equipment and branding, in the lead up to the launch of the first brewery.

In January 2016, Black Hops launched a rewards based crowdfunding campaign, via the Pozible platform, to help fund the brewery build. The campaign was a big hit, with the $10,000 minimum being achieved on the first day and $17,800 ultimately raised. At the time, no other brewery had launched using crowdfunding and as usual the boys shared their experiences via the podcast and the blog.

In January 2019, Black Hops tapped into the equity crowdfunding model, which had recently become legal in Australia, to help fund the launch of their second brewery, in Biggera Waters, on the northern end of the Gold Coast.

The campaign was run on the Birchal platform and achieved a number of record breaking results:


 * Australia’s first brewery to run a successful equity crowdfunding campaign.
 * The first company in Australia to follow up a rewards based campaign on Pozible with a successful equity campaign on their sister platform Birchal.
 * The fastest campaign ever in Australia to reach their minimum target (8 hours, 15 minutes).
 * The first and only campaign at the time to hit their maximum target ($400k in 6 days).

Awards
January 2018: Black Hops achieved the highest position of any brewing company making their debut appearance in the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer people’s choice awards, with two of their beers making the top 100: Hornet taking 55th place and Pale Ale coming in at #20.

May 2018: Black Hops was awarded Australia’s Champion Small Brewer at the 2018 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA’s). They also received five gold medals as well as a prestigious trophy for their French farmhouse ale, Beach House.

January 2019: Three Black Hops beers were recognised at the annual GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer people’s choice awards: Super Hornet: #87, Hornet: #43, Pale Ale: #14.

March 2019: Black Hops received the honour of Champion Brewery at the RQFWS Queensland Beer Awards. They also took out the awards for; Champion Queensland Brewery, Champion Pale Ale (Hornet IPA): Gold Medal, Champion IPA (Code Red): Gold Medal.

May 2019: At the 2019 AIBA Awards Black Hops took out the prestigious honour of Australia's Best Reduced / Low Alcohol Beer, receiving a Champion Beer Trophy for their Mid Range beer. They were also awarded 3 Gold Medals, 4 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal for their beers.

September 2019: Black Hops beers Pink Mist and G.O.A.T received Gold Medals at the annual Independent Beer Awards (aka ‘The Indies’) in Melbourne.

January 2020: Four Black Hops beers were recognised at the annual GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beer people’s choice awards: Caribbean Haze: 86, Super Hornet: #33, Hornet: #22, Pale Ale: #14.