Tax break assists Belgian brewery to ‘Australianise’ its beers

Queensland brewery Madocke Beer Brewing Co is set to brew its Belgian-style beer with Australian ingredients as part of a tax incentive program.

The Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive program supports businesses that undertake R&D initiatives benefitting Australia, by providing a tax offset on eligible activities.

It is administered by the Industry Innovation and Science Australia (IISA) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The Gold Coast brewery – which predominantly produces traditional European-style beer – will now replace its European malts and hops with Australian ingredients.

“So in our research and development claim that we did with the Australian government, we deliberately put forward that we are going to try to recreate traditional Belgian beers with Australian ingredients,” said Annelies Nijskens, Madocke’s co-founder and brewery manager said.

“If we can change over more beers with Australian malts, it’s beneficial for Australian agriculture and the economy and the ecological footprint, which is very important these days.”

The brewery began experimenting last year with Australian native honey to produce a Blonde beehive beer and a Belgian-style Blonde beer with Australian-grown Border Pale Malt from Barrett Burston Malting.

The latter won the European-style ale category at this year’s Indies award.

“Even though we are a Belgian-style brewery, we do not just bring everything in from Europe, we do try to work on Australian ingredients as well,” said Nijskens.

Since ingredient sourcing and freight delays are ongoing problems facing businesses’ supply chains, the brewery aims to localize its source while helping the economy under this program.