Beer tax hike: Average schooner price tipped to surge past $10 this week
The average cost of a schooner is expected to exceed $10 in Queensland, placing additional strain on struggling boutique breweries.
Redlands Coast
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The tax on beer is forecast to increase again this week with expectations it will jack up the price of a schooner of beer in Queensland by about $1 to more than $10.
Boutique breweries across the southeast say Wednesday’s expected CPI rise will place further pressure on prices at the tap and force more small brewers into voluntary administration.
The national beer excise, which rises every February and August, has already increased 8 per cent over the past year and this year five smaller Queensland brewers had closed or been forced to sell or gone into voluntary administration, after experiencing financial difficulties.
One of Logan’s most successful boutique breweries over the past five years, Monkey Tree, estimated that a worst-case scenario of a 4 per cent rise in CPI this week could bring the average cost of a schooner of beer to more than $10.
Monkey Tree director Dean Forte said the excise was gutting small brewers which were going into voluntary administration or being forced to sell.
“We know times are tough as we have seen from the number of small brewers closing over the past year and we have moved to cheaper premises because rents have also gone up with CPI,” Mr Forte said.
“We are waiting anxiously to hear how much the CPI increase will be as we have already had an 8 per cent increase in the excise over the past year.
“The excise tax, which kicks in after more than $350,000 of beer is sold, applies to all producers big and small.
“It’s hard to compete against a company which has low staff levels because it is all mechanised but still gets the same tax breaks as we do.”
Newcomer to the market Straddie Brewing Co, which opened in Dunwich in October 2022, said the excise tax was the single largest component of the cost of making a litre of beer, and it was one of the highest beer taxes in the world.
Straddie Brewing Co chief executive Kylie Taylor said while the beer tax had increased, the excise rebate available to brewers was not indexed and had remained at a flat $350,000 since May 2021.
“Because is not linked to CPI, the value of this rebate is constantly diminishing and it is not exclusive to small independent breweries with the larger players also claiming it,” Ms Taylor said.
“Lion and CUB, both foreign owned, exercise enormous market power in the Australian beer sector, with a combined 85 per cent market share but we are all lumped together when it comes to the excise tax, which is the third highest in the world.
“Is it little wonder that we are hearing, almost weekly, of independent craft breweries closing or being pushed into voluntary administration.”
Industry analyst The Crafty Pint’s Mick Wust said more than five small brewers had closed or were sold over the past year because of rising production costs including the excise with more than 40 nationally affected.
“Excise tax is a huge part of the cost of beer and there are great measures in place to help the wine industry, but craft beer gets hit hard with every increase,” Mr Wust said.
“It’s not an even playing field and throw in the cost of living, rent hikes, energy and freight costs, and you’ve got a perfect storm.
“The government really needs to step up and support the independent breweries.
They’re struggling, and punters pay the price for it.”
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