After a decade at the top, Bentspoke calls for government support for small brewers

Australia’s biggest battle of the beers, the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beer poll, has announced the lineup, and Canberra’s Bentspoke Brewing has proved its longevity, appearing in the top 10 for the last 10 consecutive years.

Their poll-topping brew, Crankshaft IPA, came in at number 4 this year, an impressive feat with more than 1500 beers from 400 breweries polling and 55,000 consumers casting their votes Australia-wide.

GABS stands for the Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular, an organisation that runs beer festivals and polls around Australia and New Zealand. The Hottest 100 is currently in its 17th year, and Bentspoke founder Richard Watkins is humbled by their consistent placing year after year.

“When you stand back and look at it, we’re a little brewery from Canberra punching above our weight in the Australian craft beer scene. It’s pretty humbling, and it’s great for Canberra.”

The managing director of Spectacular Enterprises and creator of the GABS festival, Mike Bray, is a personal fan of Bentspoke’s Crankshaft IPA, calling it a bucket list beer.

“Crankshaft was the county’s highest-ranking IPA in this year’s poll. It has certainly stood the test of time as one of Australia’s best beers,” says Mike.

Bentspoke took out two additional placings in the poll with their Barley Griffin at 49 and the Sprocket IPA at 93.

The Territory is well represented in the listing, with Capital Brewing scoring a further three spots with their Coast Ale at 17, Capital XPA at 47 and Hang Loose Juice IPA at 69.

Despite the growing love for craft beers in Australia, Richard recognises that we have a long way to go before Australian-owned breweries are well represented on the taps of pubs and clubs around Australia.

He’s calling on government to take a step back and see what they can do to help our local brewers.

“Polls like this allow you to get your brand out there and ensure that you’re staying relevant, but the main thing that has to happen in Australia is that Australian-owned and operated breweries really need some assistance from the government,” says Richard.

As a former president of the Independent Brewers Association, Richard has strong opinions on how the government could support the growth of their $4 billion industry, which employs thousands of Australians and keeps the revenue produced within the country.

“We’d like to see an increase in the excise rebate. In 1994, when I started, the rebate was around $30,000. We campaigned at Parliament House to increase it to $100,000, and a few years ago, they increased it to $300,000. But realistically, most breweries are paying $300,000 a month in excise – we’re paying double that a month at Bentspoke,” explains Richard.

Richard sees an opportunity for Australian breweries to be taxed more like the wine industry. This system scales with the business’s revenue and does not offer a flat rebate like the one for brewers.

“Barley is a year-round crop that provides year-round employment. Wine only has one vintage each year, so it employs fewer people. I love wine, but wine is taxed differently. If the brewing industry had the same tax system as the wine industry, we would have more regionally focused breweries that could grow sustainably.

“Unlike the bigger breweries, the regional ones support local initiatives like sporting teams and employ local people. Between all the breweries in the ACT we would employ around 200 people. The big breweries employ five people, but we don’t get treated any differently to the big breweries,” says Richard.

Long-running polls such as this do little to address tax reform, but they do reveal the tastes and trends of Australian beer drinkers. Catering to those tastes is crucial to the success of Canberra breweries, and it’s at the forefront of what Richard Watkins and his business partner Tracy Margrain deliver with Bentspoke’s popular range of beers.

“A few years ago, IPA was one of the bigger selling styles in craft beer. That trend followed the US, they’re about 10 years ahead of us when it comes to trends and styles,” explains Richard.

“This year, there were lots of easy drinking, lager-style beers and hazy, juicy pale ales and IPAs. The hazy style has resonated with a lot more people in recent times.”

The overall winner of the Hottest 100 poll was Katoomba-based brewery Mountain Beer Culture with their Status Quo Pale Ale, becoming, coincidentally, status quo for the poll, having taken first place three years running.

Check out the full list of Hottest 100 Craft Beers.