Entries are now open for the 2026 ACT Amateur Brewing Championships - enter and sign up to help out now!

Good day brewers hope you are well and hydrated!

Full steam ahead for the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships. This is the big one and I am sure that many of you have beers all ready to go, whilst others are still thinking (best get brewing!). The comp will be held between 11 and 13 September 2026.

Winning a ‘place’ is your ticket to enter the Australian Amateur Brewing Comp. You could also be named ACT Brewer of the Year and if you win the Best of Show you will brew your beer at the BentSpoke as the prestigious Bent Brewer. Hey you can do all three if you try really hard!

The competition website is up and running with all the relevant comp information. You can now register and enter your beers, ciders and meads. All styles are up for judging. Also read our page about participating in competitions for more information about using the competition website and entering.

Registration for judging and stewarding is also open. It should be a busy weekend and we will need all the volunteers we can get so make sure you register even if you have no beers in the comp.

August meeting

This month’s meeting is Thursday August 6 at The Polish Club, 38 David St, Turner

The format will be the usual exciting formula: education session, club updates, the six-pack swap, plenty of shared beer and of course the raffle. Don’t forget to bring a keg or bottle to share.

Education session – pressure fermentation

cartoon style graphic of a bearded man expressing surprise when a conical fermenter explodes.
Pop goes the fermenter! Learn about the pros and cons of fermenting under pressure at the August meeting.

Join us as Stretch takes us through the in and outs, not to mention the ups and downs of pressure fermentation. What styles are appropriate? What is pressure fermentation anyway? Equipment to use?  Pressures to ferment at? So many questions and as always so many answers.

Competition update

Two men seated at a table with a variety of beers placed for judging. A third man leans over writing on a piece of paper while a fourth brings and additional beer.
Best of show judging at the Winter competition.

The Winter Club comp is all wrapped. The comp secretaries ran a small comp with three tables of three judges, judging multiple categories, including some categories with only one entry. The top two scoring beers from each table went into a Best of Show Round. Those beers were:

  • Patrick Cole’s Dark Mild
  • Leo Alfonzo’s International Pale Lager
  • Richard Brown’s Cali Common
  • Mick Donovan’s Irish Stout
  • Patrick Cole’s Mixed Fermentation Sour
  • Richard Brown’s Catharina Sour

The Catharina Sour was awarded best of show, with honourable mentions going to the Cali Common and the Dark Mild. There was some great variety in this comp and some terrific beers. Thanks to the entrants, judges and stewards.

Social goings on

5 people seated around a table with a variety of beers and glasses
Club members at Batch Brewing Co for the group’s first stop on the Inner West Sydney Brewery trip.

The Canberra Brewers Delegation to the Inner “Wasted” Ale Trail was by all accounts a great success. Kicking off at Batch and visiting amongst others Beer Fontaine, Bob Hawkes Beer and Leasure Centre, Mix Tape, Hopster and One Drop. Apparently everyone was well behaved. Of course what happens on the tour stays on the tour.

Wednesday August 5 the Bentspoke is hosting a Trivia night which is hosted in turn by a man whose mind is not in any way Trivial, Dan Rayner.

See you all Thursday August 6 at the Polish Club

Working hard at the Cypher brewday.

The cold has finally set in but it is never too cold to venture out to the monthly Canberra Brewers Club Meeting from 7.30pm this Thursday 2 July at The Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David St, Turner.

The format will include the usual, education session, club updates, six-pack swap, plenty of shared beer and of course the raffle (featuring some yummy yeast from our wonderful sponsor Mashematics).

Education session – decoction

Cartoon style graphic of a man with arms reaching into a vessel labeled mash tun 60 C and one labeled decoction 100C. Text 'Decoction madness; Boil it! Boil it again! Mash it! BOIL IT AGAIN!' Speech bubble, 'Decoct the Decoct! Then Decoct it again!!!''

Ever decocted? Heard about it? Think it is the answer to world beer domination? Consider it outdated?

Join in as Stretch takes us through the mysteries of decoction mashing and leave with a much better idea of what it is and what is does and of course how to do it.

Competition update

The Winter Comp will be done, and quite possibly dusted by the meeting and with luck the results will be in.

In the meantime get brewing for the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships to be held on 11-13 September. Remember a placing will be your entry ticket for the Australian Amateur Brewers Championships (24-25 October in Sydney), a chance to win ACT Brewer of the Year and the Bent Brewer Award for beer of show (or all of the above).

Social events update

Cypher brew day

Large group of people standing beside the bar at Cypher Brewing Co
Cypher Brewing Co’s head brewer Matt Theile takes club members through a guided tasting.

We had a great turnout for the Cypher Brew Day on 13 June with Matt guiding us through Cypher’s brewing process and members getting down and remarkably clean in the brewery. We got some guided tastings, tried hop sampling with some special releases sent to the brewery and even sampled a special yet that’s yet to be released.

We “helped” brew Incantation, a Red IPA which had a massive 470kg grain bill (Voyager Atlas, Red X, Voyager Dark Voodoo, Simpsons Black and acidulated malt) and, Simcoe, Citra, Krush, Peacharine hops and some specialised whirlpool hop extract, Yakima Chief’s Citra DynaBoost. It’s finished up at 7% and should be in cans and on tap at the end of the week.

Thanks to Matt, Jimmy and Cypher for the great hospitality!

Sydney Inner West Breweries Weekend

Inner West Ale Trail be warned, a delegation of Canberra Brewers will be heading to the Federal seat of Grayndler, which for many years was held by former, or latter King of Canberra, Fred Daly. This trip will feature many delicious brews and ‘succulent Chinese meal’ at the Lucky Prawn at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre.

Set 24 to 27 July aside and start booking accommodation for this momentous tap take over, if from the other side.

Keep an eye on the Facebook members group event page for more updates.

Crossing the line: Canberra Brewers serving it up

Starting the year with Canberra Brewers brewing all of our own beer for the National Multicultural Festival, sold alongside this year’s BentBrewer which was Stretch’s Kolsch (brewed with Richard and Tracy at the BentSpoke) and Mozzie’s Cypher collaboration dunkelweizen, The Silent Void.

We and the good citizens of Canberra are now able to enjoy Mozzie’s Void Beyond dunkel weizenbock at Cypher and in cans (re-brewed after some recalculations), and South Coast visitors can try Amber’s collab with Jervis Bay Brewing, a Baltic porter released as part of the brewery’s Winter Solstice festival.

And next we will have Richard Brown’s Spring Comp winning Scottish ale, Glasgow Kiss, hitting the brewing schedule at Cypher.

Cans of Cypher Brewing Co's Void Beyond' beer, with people standing on a brewery platform in the background.
Cypher’s collab beer with club member Mozzie, a dunkel weizenbock.

See you all Thursday 2 July at the Polish Club

What goes perfectly with a beer? Another beer! And also food. Come along to the meeting for some tips on how to get the most out of your beer and food with the perfect match.

Bonjour Canberra Brewers,

Welcome to winter! Even though the temps haven’t fallen we can still bring out the delicious dark beers. Hoping we can crack a few at our meeting next week (don’t forget to car-pool if you partake in a few RIS’s). Join us on Thursday, 04 June 2026, at the Polish Club in Turner from 7:30pm. We’ll have an informative education session, club updates, and plenty of great beer to share.

Education session – beer and food pairing

Our June education session will be a gustation journey on beer and food pairing. Perfect for those of us who eat and drink beer (so literally all of us). Learn why that burger tastes best with hoppy refreshing pale ales and why chocolate does not. If you are feeling nerdy you might want to dust off your copy of Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer to do some pre-reading.

Competitions update

Massive thank you to Cypher Brewing and those who helped with the Autumn Comp, including Ken and Robin who did a great job organising the comp. It was an excellent turn out with 41 entries across 8 categories. Jeff from Cypher, Gilks and Chuck judged the Best in Show. Massive congratulations to Richard Brown and his Scottish Heavy ‘Glasgow kiss’ which will brewed at Cypher in the coming year.

Can you believe the Winder comp is now upon us?

  • Club Comp 1 (Autumn Comp) – Saturday 9 May 2026 – done and dusted
  • Club Comp 2 (Winter Comp) – Saturday 27 June 2026 (entry closes 20 June)
  • ACT Amateur Brewing Championships – 11-13 September 2026

Get brewing on the following styles for comp 2 – entry registration and drop-off close at 12pm on 20 June:

  • Pale Lager
  • Amber and dark Lager
  • Stout
  • Wheat and Rye Beer
  • Belgian Ale
  • Fruit and Spice Beer
  • Speciality Beer
  • Mead
  • Cider and Perry
  • Strong Ale and Lager
  • Sour and Wild Ale

Watch the socials and emails for details on entering, judging and stewarding or go to the Canberra Brewers Winter Comp 2026 site.

All are welcome!!

Club business & socialising

Amber’s Baltic Porter brewed with Jervis Bay Brewing for the NOOKIE prize will soon be kegged, watch out for the socials for when it will be available on tap. The 2026 NOOKIE prize was won by Kip at the May meeting – congrats Kip!!

BentSpoke birthday bash

BentSpoke will be hosting their 12 Birthday! Head down to the brew pub on the 5 June – we have booked a table from 4pm. Bentspoke will be providing free canapes, birthday cake, limited edition beanies. Read about the event on the Crafty Pint website, and RSVP on the Facebook members group event page.

Cypher brew day

Group of people standing at the Cypher Brewing Co bar while Matt leads a tasting
Canberra Brewers listen in while Cypher Brewing Co head brewer Matt Theile gives a guided tasting during the club brew Day in 2024.

Cypher Brewing will be hosting a brew day on Saturday 13 June for the Canberra Brewers. At a low cost of $35 bucks for members, you will receive beers, food and an entertaining morning. Registration will occur soon through the socials or forum.

June 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.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, 4 June, at the Polish Club. Bring yourselves, your attitude and winter jackets, and — of course — bring your homebrew, either a keg or bottle!

Cheers,
Canberra Brewers Committee

BentSpoke co-founders Tracy Margrain, left, and Richard Watkins, right, present Crankshaft Clone Competition winner Corey Fisher with a $500 prize at their Braddon BrewPub.

Congratulations to club member Corey Fisher who took out today’s Crankshaft Clone Competition, hosted at the BentSpoke BrewPub in Braddon.

Corey’s was one of more than 20 entries judged by BentSpoke brewers and co-founders Richard Watkins and Tracy Margrain, along with National BJCP judge Charles Newton and Grand Master BJCP judge David Gilks.

Joining Corey on the beer podium were Rob Barnsley in 2nd place and Dave Cattle, 3rd.

Corey received a $500 cash prize and Rob takes home a case of Crankshaft (to compare with his excellent clone version).

The judges said picking the winner was a real challenge with the final decision coming down to the barest of margins.

Overall, the standard of entries was exceptional with the brewers showing that anyone can produce commercial quality beers at home.

Richard said it was humbling to have so many brewers try to replicate their iconic beer and great to have such high quality entries.

Thanks to all the Brewers who entered, and a huge thanks to the club’s biggest supporter, BentSpoke Brewing Co.

We’ll see you at the BrewPub 🍻

four people sitting around a table, with glasses of beer place on numbered placemats. Only one beer remains on each placemant
From left, Tracy Margrain, Richard Watkins, David Gilks and Charles Newton get down to the final beer in the
Beer glasses spread out on numbered placemats
The entries are laid out in preparation for judging
Four people seated around a table, each looking over 21 glasses of beer placed on numbered placemats.
Tracey, Richard, David and Charles judge the Crankshaft Clone Competition.