The Canberra Brewers and BentSpoke Brewing Co are teaming up to host one of the ACT’s biggest-ever beer competitions as they challenge homebrewers to clone the brewery’s flagship beer, Crankshaft! Great brewing is about accuracy and control, and nothing tests a brewer’s skills like cloning a commercial example. So the Canberra Brewers are running a competition to see who can best match the original.
The winner stands to win a $500 cash prize and a year’s membership to the Canberra Brewers!
As we roll into April, the brewhouse fires are burning bright and there’s plenty to look forward to at our next club meeting. Join us on Thursday, 2 April 2026 at the Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David St, Turner from 7:30pm. We’ll have an informative education session, club updates, and plenty of great beer to share.
Education Session – Cereal Mashing
Our April education session will take a deep dive into cereal mashing — an essential technique for unlocking the potential of adjunct grains such as corn, rice, oats, and wheat. Whether you’re looking to refine your process or simply understand why and when to use a cereal mash, this is the session for you. Bring your questions and brewing experiences to share.
CBR Brewers partners with BentSpoke for the Cranky Competition
Now that you have had a chance to practice brewing a Cranky clone for our smaller xmas crank-ish competition it’s time for the real deal. Our Crankshaft Clone Competition went live on Friday. With $500 at stake why not pit yourself against the best to see how your cranked-up Cranky Clone compares.
Mashematics is putting together a “Canberra Brewers Members special open to all” super kit containing all you need to brew a crankshaft. You can purchase from the Mashematics website.
If you haven’t seen the announcements on facebook members group or the forum, here are the upcoming comp. dates:
Club Comp 1 (Autumn Comp) – Saturday 9 May 2026 Club Comp 2 (Winter Comp) – Saturday 27 June 2026 ACT Amateur Brewing Championships – 11-13 September 2026
Get brewing on the following styles for comp 1:
Low Alcohol
Pale Ale
American Pale Ale
IPA
Speciality IPA
Amber Ale
Brown Ale
Porter
Strong Stout
Watch the socials and we may release another email for details on entering, judging and stewarding. All are welcome!!
AGM wrap-up
A big thank you to everyone who attended the 2026 AGM and to all those who nominated for committee roles. It was great to see such strong engagement from members. The new committee is already working hard to plan another exciting year of competitions, collaborations, and education sessions. All these activities are supported by our good finances with the financials for the 2025-26 period to be provided to members at the April meeting.
For those who missed the meeting, we’ll provide a short recap of key outcomes and introduce the new committee team at the April gathering.
Club business & socialising
Jervis Bay Brewing will be hosting a brew day to support Amber’s N.O.O.K.I.E. prize on the 18 April at 10am, see the event on CB Facebook member group. The 2026 N.O.O.K.I.E. prize will be drawn at the May meeting.
As always, our monthly meeting is a great chance to catch up with fellow brewers, talk shop, and sample some homebrew. Don’t forget to bring along a few bottles of your latest creation for feedback and sharing or for the six pack swap.
The kegerator will be set-up to host member-bought kegs and we happen to know Ed and Lawfo will be bringing some tasty beers.
We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, 2 April, at the Polish Club. Bring your ideas, bring your enthusiasm, and — of course — bring your homebrew, either a keg or bottle!
As we head into March, there’s plenty to celebrate — and some important club business to attend to. The annual general meeting (AGM) will be conducted at the next club meeting on Thursday, 5 March at the Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David St, Turner from 7:30pm. We need as many members to attend as possible to vote in the new committee. If you would like to be a member of the committee for 2026, please read the Committee Nominations section of this message.
National Multicultural Festival 2026 – what a result!
Treasurer Amber behind the taps at the multicultural festival.
A massive thank you to everyone who volunteered, brewed, transported, set up, packed down, and poured at our stall at the Canberra Multicultural Festival 2026.
Thanks to an extraordinary team effort, we:
sold out of approximately 1,000 litres of club-brewed beer
showcased the depth and quality of Canberra Brewers talent
raised significant funds for the club to support competitions, education sessions, equipment upgrades, and future events
promoted the Club to the Canberra community and (fingers crossed) recruited new members.
The feedback from festival-goers was overwhelmingly positive. Not only did we demonstrate the quality of homebrewing in Canberra, we strengthened the club’s profile within the wider community.
This outcome reflects the professionalism, organisation, and brewing excellence of our members. Well done to all involved — it was a standout effort.
A heartfelt thank you to our 2025 committee
Club President Anthony Ween gets some quality assurance in during the multicultural festival.
As we approach another AGM and get ready to vote in the 2026 committee, it’s important to pause and recognise the incredible work of our 2025 Committee. Behind every successful brew day, competition, festival pour, and club gathering is a dedicated group of volunteers who generously give their time, energy, and expertise to keep the Canberra Brewers thriving.
A special thank you must go to Anthony Ween, our President, for his outstanding leadership over the past three years. Guiding a volunteer organisation is no small task, and his steady hand, thoughtful decision-making, and genuine passion for the club have helped shape a strong, welcoming, and forward-looking community.
We also want to recognise the huge efforts of Ed and Nicole as the Competition Secretaries over the past 3 years. Competitions are an important part of the club and the way they have been run in recent years has been outstanding. Both Ed and Nicole have put in considerable hours to plan and conduct the comps. They took it in their stride and dealt with everything from venue changes, late bottle collections, deadlines for packing and sending to Nationals and the odd frozen fridge!
While not being an elected member of the committee we would like to acknowledge the efforts of Pat B to update the website and push our social media presence. Pat has been a champion for the club over many years and without his efforts for this and his BJCP training we would be much diminished. Thanks again Pat!
To the entire 2025 Committee: thank you for your commitment, your teamwork, and your belief in what makes the Canberra Brewers such a special community. The club simply wouldn’t function without you — and we are grateful for every meeting attended, email answered, and event supported. Here’s to another great year of brewing together!
2026 committee nominations now open
With our 2026 Annual General Meeting approaching, we are calling for nominations for the Canberra Brewers Committee.
The following positions are open:
President
Treasurer
Competition Secretary
Social Secretary
Communications Secretary
Education Officer
General Member/s
Serving on the committee is a rewarding way to contribute to the direction and success of the club. It’s an opportunity to shape competitions, events, education programs, and our broader brewing community.
If you’re interested in nominating:
Consider which role suits your skills and interests
Be prepared to briefly introduce yourself at the meeting
If you’d like more information about what any role involves, please reach out to a current committee member — we’re happy to chat.
Fresh ideas and new energy are always welcome.
2026 Annual General Meeting – 5 March 2026
Our 2026 AGM will be held on Thursday, 5 March 2026
At the AGM we will:
present reports from the President and Treasurer
review the past year’s activities and achievements
dissolve the 2025 Committee
elect the 2026 Committee
discuss the club’s direction for the year ahead.
David Gilks will be our returning member and will run through the proceedings to elect the new committee.
Your attendance is strongly encouraged — the AGM is your opportunity to have a say in the future of Canberra Brewers. If you are unable to attend the meeting you may nominate a proxy to vote on your behalf.
We look forward to seeing you at the March meeting and AGM. Bring your ideas, bring your enthusiasm, and of course, bring your homebrew to share.
The Canberra Brewers are heading back to the National Multicultural Festival and for the second year in a row will be serving up beers made by members to serve to the public.
The line-up this weekend (February 6-8) includes eight beers brewed on our pilot system at Zierholz Brewery in Fyshwick, a competition-winning recipe at BentSpoke’s Brew Pub in Braddon and at fruited sour beer brewed during a club trip to Jervis Bay Brewing Co.
The 10 beers will rotate through our taps for the duration of the festival, so punters should keep coming back to see what’s new.
Many of the brewers who made the beer will be behind the bar serving beers to customers, and keen to chat about all things beer and brewing.
Canberra Brewers treasurer Amber Hutchison brewed a dark saison for the event and said meeting brewers at the festival one year is what inspired her to get involved in the club.
“One of my first interactions with the Canberra Brewers was at the Multicultural Festival. The members I talked to were excited to engage me about my new homebrew hobby and invited me to attend the next club meeting.
“I’m very grateful for that opportunity to engage with the club at multi-culti as I would not be the brewer I am now!”
Amber Hutchison
2025 ACT Champion Brewer Andrew ‘Stretch’ Lewis had the privilege of brewing his kölsch recipe at the BentSpoke Brew Pub after it won beer of show at last year’s competition. Bent Brewer 7 carries on a long tradition of BentSpoke giving the beer of show winner a chance to brew on a commercial set up with Richard and Tracy.
The Canberra Brewers will be at stall D5, on City Walk between the Canberra Times Fountain and Akuna St.
Ant adds hops to his ESBAdi stirs the mash’ brewing his Helles ExportCraig mashes in his PivoStretch brewing his Vienna lager.Amber pitches the yeast for her saison.Ken hops is oatmeal stoutChuck brews his IPAJohn give his IPA a stirRichard Watkins and Andrew ‘Stretch’ Lewis at BentSpoke
Multicultural festival beer line-up
🇩🇪 Adrian’s Helles Export 5.4%: A pale, medium-bodied German-style lager with a crisp finish that keeps you coming back for more.
🇧🇪 Amber’s Saison 6.1%: Dark in colour but light on the plate, this is a spiced, dry and slightly malty Belgian-style farmhouse ale.
🇬🇧 Ant’s ESB 5%: A sessionable malty English ale with unmistakable fruity esters from the Fuller’s yeast.
🇩🇪 Bent Brewer 7, Stretch’s ‘Kolsch’, 5%: ACT Champion Brewer Andrew Lewis’s beer of show winning recipe, brewed at BentSpoke Brew Pub. A crisp, refreshing German-style ale, perfect for a Summer thirst.
🇦🇺 Chuck’s IPA 6.4%: Our take on Crankshaft, Australia’s favourite IPA, made famous by big club supporter BentSpoke – what do you think?
🇨🇿 Craig’s Pevo 4.4%: A thirst-quenching golden beer with a clean, crisp taste and a touch of malt sweetness.
🇧🇷 Jervis Bay Brewing Co Colab Berry Sour 5%: Brewed by club members at Jervis Bay Brewing Co in Huskisson – a refreshingly tart raspberry and blackberry sour beer.
🇺🇸 John’s IPA 7%: A classic American-style IPA with bright citrus and tropical hops – bold and beautiful.
🇬🇧 Ken’s Oatmeal Stout 5.5%: A dark, full-bodied, roasty ale with a slight hint of mild earthy, nutty flavour from the oats.
🇦🇹 Stretch’s Vienna Lager 6%: A smooth amber lager with a malty, slightly toasty flavour and a crisp finish.
The Canberra Brewers stall location for the 2026 National Multicultural Festival
