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.

A man pouring hops into a large brewing kettle
Ant adds hops to his ESB
A man stirs a brewing kettle with a large wooden paddle
Adi stirs the mash’ brewing his Helles Export
A man pours malt into a large stainless steel pot
Craig mashes in his Pivo
A man grins while stirring with a large wooden padel
Stretch brewing his Vienna lager.
A woman holds a conical lab flask, pouring yeast into a stainless steel fermenter
Amber pitches the yeast for her saison.
A man adds two packets of hops to a large vat of dark liquid
Ken hops is oatmeal stout
A man gives a thumbs up with brewing kettles in the background
Chuck brews his IPA
A man stands amidst stainless steel tanks while stirring a brewing kettle
John give his IPA a stir
Two men in a bar clinking beer glasses
Richard 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.

A map of City Walk, Canberra
The Canberra Brewers stall location for the 2026 National Multicultural Festival

Three men looking up at the camera with shiny stainless steel brewing equipment in the background.
Chuck, President Weenie and Jason brewing up a batch at Zierholz for the multicultural festival.

Brewers,

Happy New year, we hope you had a great Christmas break and got a chance to brew, travel, or at least taste a few great brews. We are excited about 2026 at the club, starting with the first club meeting on Thursday, 5 February at the Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David St, Turner  from 7:30pm. We will have a huge weekend following the meeting with our major fundraiser and club promotion at the National Multicultural Festival, 6-8 February, more details below!

President’s message

Two men standing together, one holds a wooden plaque while giving the thumbs up.
Jason Reilly, left, receiving the 2025 Club Member of the Year Award from the Prez.

February is a great chance to get together as a club after a big 2025 and start fresh for the new year. We need to acknowledge the massive efforts of Jason and Chuck in-particular, to coordinate the brewing of the club’s beers for the multi-cultural festival. This is a fantastic opportunity to show off the club and our biggest public activity of the year. Thanks also to Christoph from Zierholz for access to his brewery, and Richard from BentSpoke for supporting and sponsoring the club’s efforts with BentBrewer, and to all other support provided that makes the club what it is.

All of our outcomes come from the efforts of members, so we need to thank those who participate, but also look to new brewers to welcome to the club. Invite friends. If you meet brewers, invite them to a club event and encourage them to join our great club!

Brew strong!

National Multicultural Festival

The multicultural festival is almost upon us! There are still slots available for club members to assist with setup, pack-up and serving beers throughout the weekend 6-8 February. It is a great activity to get involved with, and a chance for us to talk to the Canberra Community about this hobby that we love so much. All the details are on the Canberra brewers forum.  

Crankshaft Clone Competition

A man grins while holding a T-shirt and two cases of Crankshaft while a second man smiles in the background.
Corey picks up his swag from BentSpoke head brewer and co-founder Richard Watkins.

Congratulations to Corey for taking out the Club Crankshaft Clone comp at the Christmas party. The committee is working in the background to organise a Crankshaft clone comp which will open to the public to coincide with international homebrew day in May. The aim is to promote the existence of the club to homebrewers in Canberra, in order to increase our membership. If you are keen to get involved on the organising side, please contact the comp secretaries, or any of the committee members.

Education

To kick-off 2026, we are going to explore “The why and how of yeast harvesting.” This will be a great opportunity to discover multiple methods for yeast harvesting, how to improve your success rate and to share your own experiences with other club members.

AGM and committee positions

The Club AGM will be held at the March meeting. It sneaks up on us quickly. We need maximum attendance (at least a quorum) so please make an effort to clear your schedule for Thursday, 5 March. This year we have quite a few committee members who will not be re-nominating for their existing appointments, so we need some new members to step forward and lend a hand to running the club. It is a rewarding experience, and honestly, doesn’t take a huge effort. More info. to come on the process for nominating for positions.

See you all at the Feb Meeting at the Polish Club!

Computer generated illustration of Santa Claus holding a beer
The most wonderful time… for a beer…

Brewers,

Just a quick message this month but a couple of important dates to note!

Note there is no meeting at the Polish Club  this Thursday (4 December), instead, we are gearing up for Sunday, 14 December at 1pm  and the Club Christmas party at Bentspoke Cannery, Mitchell.

As usual, there is no January meeting, but we are back for our first meeting of 2026 on Thursday 5 February 2026 at the White Eagle Polish Club from 7.30pm. And of course keep a session or two free to help out at the National Multicultural Festival, 6-8 February 2026.

Jingle Beers

The big Christmas party is here again! Please bring a salad or desert and of course, your beers. The club will provide sausages and various other animals to cook on the BBQ. If you have dietary requirements that you need us to consider, please email this to social@canberrabrewers.com.au. We’ll make sure we have some vegetarian/vegan options.

This event is for paid-up club members. You can join before, or on the day.

Be sure to carpool with a designated driver or get an uber with some mates. We promote responsible alcohol consumption.

See you at 1pm, Sunday 14 December at  Bentspoke Cannery, 79 Lysaght St. Mitchell ACT, enter via Brooke Street.

More details will be added to the Facebook event page and the forum as they are finalised.

Club Member of the Year

The Club member of the year has been decided and will be announced at the Christmas party. On behalf of the President and committee, thank you to all members for your involvement and contributions to the club this year!

Make sure you clear your schedule to get to the Christmas party, you could be member of the year and we’d love for you to be recognised in front of the club membership.

Crankshaft Clone Competition

By now you should have your Crankshaft clones brewed, ready for the club comp at the Christmas party. Bring in a minimum 500mL bottle of your entry, ensure it is un-marked. A team of experts will judge who takes home the crown of the Crankiest Brewer. No cost for entry, except for being a paid-up club member. One entry per brewer. This one is for a bit of fun and preparation for the big Crankshaft comp, which will coincide with international homebrew day in May next year. 

Christmas Carton Swap

The carton swap is on!! Details are on Facebook and the forum. It’s not too late to register and bring in your brews to the Christmas party. Our sponsors have kindly donated prizes and slabs of their own brews to add to the swap!

brewing equipment including pail fermenters, a pressure fermenter and box, hoses and other packaging.
Mashematics’ contribution to the 2025 carton swap.
A bag of malt, two brown PET mini kegs and a box labelled 'Fermenter King Junior 10L'
The great haul donated by Brew Your Own at Home in Kambah, and Belco Brew Supplies for their contributions to the swap.

Home brewing suppliers

  • Brew Your Own At Home Kambah: 10L pressure fermenter, 8L PET keg, 4L PET keg
  • Belco Brew Supplies: 25 kg bag of Voyager Veloria Malt
  • Mashematics: 30L Fermzilla (including gas and liquid turrets, floating pick-up tube, transfer hose and siphon kit), siphon bottling kit, 2 x 30L pail fermenter kits, 138g packs of simcoe, saaz and ekuanot hops

Brewery supporters

  • Wild Polly: Hop Harvest Ale
  • BentSpoke: Frenzy and Hazee
  • Cypher: Digital Fabric
  • Capital: Good Drop
Cans of beer from BentSpoke, Capital, Wild Polly and Cypher breweries.
Thanks to brewery sponsors of the 2025 carton swap, BentSpoke, Capital, Cypher and Wild Polly for their contributions.

See you at the Christmas Party!!

Cards on the table – judging the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships Beer of Show at Bentspoke last week for the BentBrewer Award. Find out who wins at the meeting!

Brewers,

Another month down! Please join us at the Canberra Brewers meeting on Thursday, 6 November 2025, at the Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David St, Turner from 7.30pm. Please have a good read of this month’s email because it is jam-packed with heaps of exciting news and upcoming events.

A big congratulations again to everyone who entered the ACT Championships – medals will be presented at this meeting, and we’ll be announcing the winner of the BentBrewer Award for beer of show! So come along and help us celebrate our local brewing talent.

All ACT beers eligible to enter the Australian Amateur Brewing Championship (AABC) have been packaged and shipped to WA. Good Luck everyone who entered!

Farewell to Floriade

A massive thank you to all club members who took part in the brewing demonstrations at the BentSpoke stand during Floriade. From brewing to chatting with the public, setting up and packing down, it was a great showcase of our club and homebrewing in general. The event was a big success – and it couldn’t have happened without your support.

Club Member of the Year – nominations now open!

It’s that time of year again! We’re calling for nominations for the 2025 Canberra Brewers Club Member of the Year. This award recognises involvement, promotion of the club, significant contributions, helping fellow brewers, and/or just being an all-round great human. See the list of past winners for inspiration.

To nominate someone, simply email social@canberrabrewers.com.au, with their name and a short reason why they deserve the award. The last three recipients will form a secret conclave (of sorts) to review the nominations and decide on the winner.

Nominations close 15 November 2025 and the award will be presented at the Christmas Function, 14 December 2025, at the BentSpoke Cannery.

Clone competition recalibrated

Due to a few logistical issues, the committee has decided to adjust the planned Crankshaft Clone Competition announced at the September meeting. It will be scaled back to a members’ only competition to be judged at the Christmas Party on 14 December. Then we will launch a larger effort with more promotion to the public next year, culminating with judging on International Homebrew Day on May 6 – call it a re-brew!

We believe this will give us the best opportunity to reach more of the region’s homebrewers and encourage them to join the club.

If you’re brewing for the Christmas Cranky Competition, head to the forum for recipe and brewing tips. Updated prize info to come.

South Coast club trip!

The club is hitting the road on the weekend of 28-30 November. There will be a visit to a few breweries, and a brew-day at Jervis Bay Brewing Co, where we will brew a berry version of club member Richard Brown’s Fruit Salad Sour for the Multicultural Festival. More details to be announced in the forum, Facebook members group and at the November. meeting. Open to all current Canberra Brewers members.

Multicultural brewing

Brewing for the National Multicultural Festival brewing has officially kicked off! We’re following a similar process to last year, with the aim to have only club-member-brewed beers on tap at the event. To support the increased volume and flexibility needed for this, the committee has approved the purchase of a 200L fermenter – a fantastic step forward in our brewing capabilities and something all club members will benefit from.

Decemberfest (formerly Oktoberfest)

Our Oktoberfest celebration is shifting to December, now cleverly rebranded as Decemberfest! This change allows us to release Mozzie’s German beers brewed at Cypher  in time, and gives everyone more brewing time. While we’ll avoid clashing with the Christmas party, the German beer competition will take place during Decemberfest – so now is the time to start brewing your entries.

Education

This month’s education session will cover brewing rules of thumb – those handy, experience-based guidelines that can simplify your brew day, improve consistency, and help troubleshoot common issues. Whether you’re just getting started or have been brewing for years, you’ll walk away with practical tips to refine your process.

Six-pack swap

The ever-popular six-pack swap is back! Bring six of your latest brews, add your details to the forum or Facebook, and take home a handpicked mix of other members’ creations. Also, don’t forget to register for the 24-pack Christmas swap—it’s live now, and you’ll want time to brew something special!