Category: Monthly Meeting Preview

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!

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, siphon bottling kit, 30L pail fermenter kit, 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

See you at the Christmas Party!!

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!

September has been a huge month for the Canberra Brewers, with even more coming up in October! Some details below, but to get the full story you’ll have to come along to the club meeting this Thursday, 2 October at the Polish at the  Polish White Eagle Club, 38 David St, Turner, from 7.30pm.

We had the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships on 12-13 September, with Ed and Nic steering a dedicated team of judges and stewards through 220 entries over three sessions at BentSpoke’s Budding Cells facility.

First, second and third places for each category have been published on the competition website, with the first three places qualifying for the national competition in early November. You’ll have to be there on Thursday night to learn the winner of ACT Champion Brewer for 2025!

The top entry from each category heads into the BentBrewer Award judging for beer of show on October 23, with the winner announced and all ACT medals handed out at the meeting on 6 November.

Attack of the Clones

At the September meeting we heard from BentSpoke brewer Dan Rayner who announced an epic new homebrew competition, where BentSpoke is offering a $500 cash prize for the brewer who can clone Australia’s favourite IPA, Crankshaft!

Recipe tips and entry details will be coming soon, and the beers will be judged at the club Christmas party on December 14. It will be maximum 1 entry per person, at a cost of $8 per entry for club members. Non-members can join in for $20, which also gets them invited to the Christmas party and membership until the end of the financial year.

Tiptoe through the tulips

Keen to get some early tips on brewing Crankshaft for the competition? Come and help out as the Canberra Brewers run brewing info sessions at Floriade each weekend! Led by Chuck, the gang is taking Floriade visitors through the brewing process and giving away a few tips on how to brew BentSpoke’s flagship beer.

Always keen for more helpers, so you can sign up to help out between 10.30am-12.30pm for the next two Saturdays and Sundays.

Sign up on the club forum

Chunky fermentation

The education session is taking a slightly different direction this Thursday, with a bit of a nod to Oktoberfest. Education Secretary Stretch is going to slice up the cabbage (not a euphemism) and get into the art of fermenting sauerkraut. Sounds delicious.

Live, Laugh, Lederhosen

After winning beer of show at the June club competition, Mozz has brewed his weizenbock at Cypher Brewing Co! We’re going to get together for an Oktoberfest celebration and beer release in a few weeks time – details to come.

Swap season

As well as the monthly six-pack swap, we’re also gearing up for the yearly case swap! Need a few extra homebrews to get through the Christmas season (and make up for no January club meeting)? Get brewing now so you can bring along 24 beers to the Christmas party so you can then take home a mixed case – every year a heap of local sponsors get on board offering giveaways and beers to those who take part, so get amongst it. Details are on the Facebook group and club forum.

What does membership get you?

Ever wondered what you get with a Canberra Brewers membership? Club meetings provide brewing support, education, access to the club library and brew-ship (brewing plus friendship – get it?). Our sponsors support you through discounts at your favourite brew and beer shops; Mashematics, Belco Brew Supplies, Plonk, Page Bottler. Events and brew days at Zierholz, Cypher, Capital Brewing Co, and BentSpoke. And the cherry in the stout: Draughters membership (and club comp and infrastructure support) at BentSpoke!

Sign up today!