Craft brewers tap into taxation relief
INDEPENDENT breweries on the Gold Coast are expected to receive a boost thanks to excise tax changes and an explosion in the number of craft beer bars.
Bine Beer Bar owner Scott Imlach said craft beer bars had provided independent brewers an avenue to distribute their product that they had not had in the past.
“The big boys like Lion Nathan have contracted all the surf clubs and 90 per cent of the pubs are owned by Coles or Woolworths,” he said.
“That made it hard for the small players to break into the market. But that is changing now, because craft beer is more popular.”
Mr Imlach said he prided himself on supporting local brewers.
His Nobby Beach bar has eight “rolling” taps for craft beers and goes through 30 kegs a week.
“I’m a big supporter of local beers. We stock Burleigh Brewing, Black Hops, Lost Palms and Currumbin Valley Brewing,” he said.
“Every two months we host a craft-beer lunch where there are three courses paired with eight or nine beers from a brewer. We get all the locals coming in and the brewer speaks to the beer.”
Independent Brewers Association CEO Chris McNamara said Queensland was one of the fastest-growing regions for craft breweries.
“On the Gold Coast, Balter are the hot new kids on the block with their awards,” he said.
“On top of that lots of other people coming along, Black Hops, Lost Palms Brewing Co and more and more from the Gold Coast are getting in the game. Which is great for a city which began with such a small base.”
Mr McNamara said he was pleased with the news of industry assistance from Treasurer Scott Morrison as part of the budget.
This week’s federal budget changed a rule that imposed more tax if a keg was smaller than 48 litres. This was seen to unfairly penalise smaller, or independent, brewers.
The change means now all kegs larger than eight litres will be taxed the same.
“The amount we are able to claim back has increased and will most likely be put back into the business,” Mr McNamara said.
“More politicians are realising independent brewers are a great way to support local businesses.”
However, Pickled Pig owner Paul Brewer said the government changes would have little impact.
“We do very few small kegs,” Mr Brewer said. He said he would rather the Government eliminated excise tax for small brewers such as Pickled Pig, which produces 200,000 litres of beer each year.