In what will not be a massive surprise to readers of The Local Rag, pubs from around regional Victoria have come out on top in the annual AHA State Awards for Excellence.
The awards night took place on May 20 at Crown Palladium and saw awards across plenty of categories including Excellence in Service, Chef of the Year, Best Pub Bar, Best Presented Beer, and of course the much anticipated, Parma of the Year.
Also Read: The Best Country Pubs in Victoria
New categories at the 2024 edition of the AHA State Awards for Excellence included Apprentice of the Year, Venue Manager of the Year, Best Cocktail Menu of the Year, and Bush Pub of the Year.
More than half of the winners at this year’s event are pubs located in regional Victoria, which is a huge shout to the institutions that we know and love. The People’s Choice Award went to The Star Hotel in Sale for the second year running from a field of 146 beer-pouring contenders. Overall Hotel of the Year (Regional) was taken home by The Middle Hotel in Korumburra, taking out the gong over other regional finalists including San Remo Hotel, American Hotel (Echuca), Kennington Tavern, Western Hotel (Ballarat), The Drouin Family Hotel, Grand Junction Hotel (Traralgon), Grovedale Hotel, and the Mountain View Hotel (Whitfield).
The coveted Parma of the Year award went to Korumburra’s The Middle Hotel.
Other regional winners included the Royal Hotel in Drouin which took out Best Casual Dining (Regional), The Old Town ‘N’ Country Tavern in Wangaratta which won Best Family Dining, The Victoria in Rutherglen which won Best Pub Restaurant (Regional), Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis which won Best Cocktail List of the Year alongside many more.
You can catch all the winners on the AHA State Awards of Excellence site.
