“You can be more sustainable and make more money at the same time.”

Capital Brewing are well established alongside BentSpoke as part of the ACT beer scene’s big two. Despite retaining a tight sales focus on just the Canberra region and New South Wales, they’ve grown to a current capacity of two million litres per year while operating one of the largest hospitality venues – 1,000 people inside and out – of any brewery in Australia.

They’ve gained public recognition by landing multiple beers in numerous GABS Hottest 100 polls – “Our goal was always to have the best album rather than the best smash hit.” – and produce a consistent, approachable core range on the one hand while indulging the brew team’s flights of fancy – imperial stout using apple juice instead of water, anyone? – via their pilot brewery and taproom.

Central to their story, however, is their focus on operating as upstanding global citizens. Influenced by co-founder Laurence Kain and Tom Hertel’s joint love of the outdoors – surfing, long-distance running – they operate one of the leanest, greenest machines in beer and not just because they believe it’s the right thing to do; as they explain in our chat, operating more sustainably can be good for your bottom line too.

We joined Laurence and the head brewer they enticed from San Diego, Wade Hurley, to discuss all that and more, including Captain Podium, supporting local music, and strong signs that the market is taking a turn for the better.

We kick off the show with James joining Will from Purnululu to discuss the latest in MicroStar / Kegstar’s proposed acquisition of Konvoy, the Brisbane German Club’s joy ahead of their 2025 Oktoberfest, our step Behind Bars with Canberra beer bar To All My Friends, Bowden Brewing’s expansion in Adelaide, plus our upcoming Froth Town Crafty Crawl and event with Evil Mega Corp in Freo in September. We also announce a very worthy winner in our Have You Done A Rallings? celebration of the country’s good beer citizens.

Start of segments:

• 17:50 – Capital Brewing Part 1
• 46:26 – Have You Done A Rallings?
• 49:18 – Capital Brewing Part 2

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