Capital Brewing Co

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If Australia ever had a national drink, then beer would definitely be it. Just ask Tooheys, who created some very catchy TV ads in the 1970s and 1980s featuring their beer and famous sports stars such as rugby league greats Ray Price and Peter Sterling, and cricket legends Denis Lilee and Mike Whitney. "How do you feel? I feel like a Tooheys!" was one of the recurring soundtracks of my childhood. Thanks to Tooheys, beer and Aussies (or Aussie men to be more precise) went very well together.

But the times...well, they are a' changing. Or at least, the type of beer Australians are consuming is changing. "I feel like a Tooheys" has now become "I feel like a craft beer that's Australian owned and Australian made." According to the latest Roy Morgan research in 2014 on Australians' alcohol consumption , beer drinking has declined nationwide. However, even though Australians seem to be drinking less beer overall, more of that beer is now craft beer and independent.

Enter . , a craft beer brewery that's based right here in the Bush Capital.


About .
. is all about good-natured brews. Brews that are good for nature and good for people. "We believe in looking after the environment, our people, community, making amazing beer and having a lot of fun doing it!" says 's Events and Community Engagement Coordinator, Alex Hoskison.

. was founded in 2016 by a couple of Canberra locals, Tommy Hertel & Laurence Kain with two staff. They had worked in hospitality together for many years, and had always wanted to run their own venue. Having saved up enough money, they opened Honkytonks & Hippo Co. in Garema Place. They wanted to exclusively stock Australian craft product in their beer fridges, but ran into a problem-namely, that it was really hard to get craft beer to Canberra. Eventually, they got fed up, and in 2016 they decided to make the beer themselves. And so . was born. Initially, they made their beer from Hairyman Brewery in Cronulla, Sydney before finally securing their own premises in Fyshwick. . beers are now distributed into over 650 bars, pubs, bottle shops and restaurants up and down the East Coast of Australia. Capital beers are also being exported to Hong Kong and Singapore.



Good brews.
's beers contain only four ingredients: water, malt, hops & yeast. "We don't use additives, preservatives, pasteurization or filtration-but sometimes we use natural adjuncts like coriander seed, honey, orange peel, etc," Alex tells me. "At the forefront of everything that we do in the brewery is quality. The product must always come first. We have over 100 quality checkpoints that the beer must pass before it is packaged into keg or can, because we are only as good as our last brew."

Capital brews a broad range of beer styles, from many different beer-making traditions such as: Australian-style pale ales and XPAs, English-style bitters, American-style pale ales and IPAs, and more left-of-field brews like sour goses. "In Australia, we're really lucky to be exposed to such a wide variety of styles," Alex says. "Over centuries of migration, people from all over the world have brought with them their own particular beer tastes and brewing techniques, making this place a real melting-pot for beer making."

Capital's head brewer, Wade Hurley, hails from San Diego, and many of Capital's beers echo his West-Coast roots. Wade previously worked for Coronado Brewing Co and Green Flash in San Diego and has won the beer World Cup with his Barley Wine and West Coast IPA.


Good for the environment.
. prides itself on being a sustainable brewery. The brewery was built with sustainability in mind and is moving towards being one of the most sustainable beer production operations in the country. From efficient cooling and heating systems for their brewing processes through to heat exchange processes that capture the heat from one brew and use it on the next, Capital targets every area of operation to minimise utility use. They reduce waste wherever they can and have stopped wrapping cardboard packaging on their cans and instead use ocean safe, 100% PCR plastic clip tops. All of the spent grain from the brewing process also goes to local farmers to feed their animals and all of the brewery's spent yeast and hops goes to an organic compost farm.

Furthermore, the water Capital uses in their brews rolls in from the scenic Brindabella Mountains. "We benefit from and cherish our beautiful surrounds," Alex says. "And we have an obligation to do what we can to minimise our impact upon them. As we say at Capital, 'there's no beer on a dead planet'."




Good for the community.
. believes in supporting the community and local grass roots organisations. They have set aside an annual fund of $70 000 to support charities and grass roots community organisations. So far they have donated to over 200 local and interstate community organisations in fields such as cancer research, foster care, aids awareness and women's refuge.

Good for Canberra.
"We're proud of our product and proud of our town," Alex says. "And we're excited to share that with everyone. We make super delicious beer and you can feel good about drinking it!


More than beer!
. has partnered with Canberra institution, Brodburger, so you can also enjoy their iconic burgers and hot dogs with your Capital brew.

It's a wheelchair-accessible place as well as a kid-friendly space with a big outdoor area for the kids to play in complete with cubby house, games, high chairs, juices and Baby-Brod servings. And there's plenty of shady spaces and water for your fur-babies too!

. also runs brewery tours for groups of around 10 people on both Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm and 4pm. The tour is $25 per person and includes a beer on arrival, full behind the scenes tour of how Capital makes beer and a tasting paddle at the end. To book a tour, go here.

. is located at Building 3, 1 Dairy Road, Fyshwick. Open Mon-Thurs from 11.30AM - 9PM; Friday 11.30AM - late;Saturday 11.30AM - late; and Sunday from 11.30AM - 9PM. If you would like to find out more about , please visit their website.

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#burgers
#child_friendly
#community_events
#craft_beer
#fyshwick
#learn_something
#tours
%wncanberra