BentSpoke Brewing Co

To many beer aficionados, for the majority of its life at Canberra House, the Wig & Pen Tavern was synonymous with one thing above all others: the beers of Richard Watkins. The brewer spent 17 years there, twice winning Champion Australian Brewery titles and creating an unrivalled collection of cask ales, Belgian beers, hoppy ales and, perhaps most famously, barrel-aged sours back before most people in Australia knew such things existed.

Today, both the Wig & Pen and Richard Watkins have relocated. The former is now found within the capital’s ANU building, the latter within the home of BentSpoke Brewing Co, the brewpub he launched with partner Tracy Margrain in Braddon in June 2014.

It launched with a bang, with an estimated 3,000 litres of beer and cider pouring through BentSpoke’s 18 taps on the opening weekend, and has barely paused for breath since. On The Crafty Pint’s first visit, while all other Canberra venues we passed on the Monday and Tuesday evenings had attracted a handful of patrons, at BentSpoke the tables out front and inside were packed; much of the upper floor, which houses the brewery, was populated too.

It’s easy to understand the appeal, not least because of the quality of the beers and cider that flow. At all times, 18 different drops are on offer, some of them permanently, others one-offs or seasonals that come and go. They range from traditional (and less traditional) ales on hand pump to a range of hoppy, US-inspired pales that rise in steps to some seriously high ABV and IBU brews and among which which the Sprocket is a true gem. Then there are spiced ales, beers pouring through the custom-built “hopinator” (Richard is the designer and builder of most you find around Australia today), dark ales, Belgian ales, beers showcasing unique ingredients, such as the Heat Freekeh brewed with the ancient grain of the same name, and anything else that he challenges himself to brew.

Then there’s the look of the two storey joint. Built into the lower floors of a new build apartment block in the revitalised suburb of Braddon, it puts the brewery front and centre. Behind the downstairs bar sit a row of tanks, while as you head upstairs you pass the brewhouse where Richard goes to work.

There’s plenty of clever touches too. The hand rails on the stairs are actually pipes through which beer is pumped from the brewery to the tanks below, kegs are used for seats and malt bags hang from walls, while the tap handles are all individually conceived and handcrafted by BentSpoke regular Peter Rogers. The retired cartographer used to design the decals for Richard at the Wig & Pen and has now taken his creativity to another level, carving and moulding ever more cunning and outlandish wooden, plastic and metal handles.

It’s all in keeping with the dazzling industrial look of the brewpub, from the expanses of timber, glass and steel to the incredible hanging light shades (a term that doesn’t do them any sort of justice) welded from bike parts by Tracy and the Rat Patrol, a local group of bike builders. Similarly, the tasting paddles – or handles – are made with actual handles.

The look is itself in keeping with the ethos of the place, with the “spoke” of the title a nod to the world of cycling. As for the bent, well, Richard is well known for brewing “bent” beers, many of which appear alongside more orthodox beers, all of which you can take home in stylish growlers.

That’s not all that’s bent about the place, either. The food that has played its own significant role in BentSpoke’s popularity isn’t afraid to step outside the boundaries of what you might expect to find on a quality brewpub menu. Sure, there are tasty hot wings, Ploughman’s platters and the like, as well as dishes making use of the beers and their raw ingredients. But there are often offerings for the more adventurous, such as lamb’s brains in a crushed grain crust. And quite delicious they were too.

In November 2015, Richard and Tracy took possession of a second site in Mitchell, where they are developing a second brewery and venue that includes a canning line that, in November 2016, produced their first two packaged beers, with Barley Griffin and Crankshaft getting the nod.

Name
BentSpoke Brewing Co
Address

38 Mort Street
Braddon
ACT 2612

Phone
(02) 6257 5220
Open Hours

Open 11am to midnight every day

Current Cabal offers

10% Off BentSpoke Beers


This is a directory listing. To find out more, head here

BentSpoke Brewing Co Regulars

BentSpoke Brewing Co Easy

Published December 7, 2018
As the first days of summer 2018/19 tick by, another hoppy mid-strength – this time one that veers close to light beer territory in terms of ABV, serving up just one standard drink per 375ml flip top can – lands. It's BentSpoke's turn to throw their hat into this ever busier area of the local beer landscape – see our article on the rise of mid-strengths here – with Easy creating a vibe before you've even put the beer to your lips thanks to its sea-meets-sand colour scheme and the line drawings… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength
ABV
3.2%
Bitterness
22 IBU

BentSpoke Brewing Co Red Nut

Published March 9, 2018
If the falling leaves and changing colours of the landscape (at least in much of the country) weren't indicative enough that we're into a new season, the changing colours of many of the beers coming our way are doing their best to help. While we're not quite into stout season, we appear to be entering darker times, with this autumn seasonal Drifter release (BentSpoke's name for one-off can runs) one of a few red IPAs reaching the Crafty team this week. Unsurprisingly for an operation that talked… Read more
Style
Red IPA
ABV
7.1%
Bitterness
56 IBU
Stockists

Find it across ACT, VIC & NSW

BentSpoke Brewing Mort's Gold (Cans)

Published December 2, 2017
It's not just the 360 degree removable lids that make BentSpoke's cans among the finest in the land. The artwork that may initially look like mere background detail goes a long way towards telling the story of the beer inside. So, if the canary yellow livery and "CLEAN & CRISP LAGER" hadn't already set you on the path to working out what Mort's Gold is intended for, just look a little closer: swimming pools, kites, buckets and spades, water pistols and so on. Yes, it's a beer for kids!… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.4%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Barley Griffin

A BentSpoke regular that takes its name from the artificial lake at the heart of Canberra, Lake Burley Griffin. In late 2016, it became one of two beers chosen to be packaged in cans. Tagged as a "Canberra Pale Ale", it sits firmly at the sessionable end of the pale ale spectrum, weighing in at just 4.2 percent ABV. The beer pours a hazy pale straw colour – or "cloudy but fine", according to the brewery team in another reference to the place in which it is brewed – and delivers… Read more
Style
Australian Pale Ale
ABV
4.2%
Bitterness
18 IBU
Awards

Gold – Australian International Beer Awards

BentSpoke Brewing Co Braddon Bitter

Taking its name from the suburb of Canberra that BentSpoke calls home, the Braddon Bitter is also the beer that, more than any other on the lineup, reminded The Crafty Pint's British founder of home too. It may use all Aussie ingredients but it has the bitters of the UK as its inspiration. One of the beers you'll find pouring through the venue's handpumps, straight from a tank behind the bar, it's a deep auburn coloured beer that mixes hearty toffee, caramel and slightly nutty malt characters with… Read more
Style
English Bitter
ABV
5.0%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Crankshaft IPA

One of the beers that has become something of a flagship for BentSpoke, the Crankshaft is a US-inspired "Orange" IPA. Why orange? Well, for a start it pours a bold orange / rust colour. And then there's the choice of US hops that are lavished upon it: initially Centennial, Citra, Cascade and Simcoe but evolving to switch out Cascade and bring in fellow Americans Equinox and Mosaic. The result are aromas and flavours that lean heavily towards the citrus (in particular orange, of course),… Read more
Style
American IPA
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
35 IBU

BentSpoke Brewing Co Mort's Gold

Another beer that comes with a nod to local history, the Mort's Gold is named after Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, a 19th century industrialist known for, among other things, improving refrigeration of meat and founding Australia's first gold mining company. The latter fact makes sense given the beer is a bright golden pilsner; maybe the former can be tied in too given just how well the beer would go with a fine slab of crispy pork... The beer itself has a gently fruity side to it alongside the soft spicy,… Read more
Style
Pilsner
ABV
4.9%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Dick Tracy

The first ever beer to go through the BentSpoke brewery, its taps and into punter's hands, the Dick Tracy is the sort of concoction that some brewers like to use when putting their gleaming new setups to the test. In other words, it adds plenty to the mix in order to see how the brewery will handle them. In this case, the mix featured lots of darker malts, some fruity hops and a Belgian yeast. The resultant beer is one that doesn't lack for complexity. If you're after rich, fruity, nutty dark toffee… Read more
Style
Belgo Nut Brown Ale
ABV
5.4%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Sprocket

The Sprocket is described by the brewery as the Crankshaft Orange IPA's younger sister. In typically bent fashion, while there is an argument that it is younger given it was first brewed later, in pretty much every other way it presents as the bigger sibling. It's higher in alcohol for one and explodes out of the glass like few other IPAs you'll come across in Australia – or anywhere else for that matter. Our first experience of the beer came when we were catching up with a mate who's involved… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.7%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Specials

BentSpoke Brewing x Teeling Whiskey Brewers' Share

Published March 15, 2023
St Patrick’s Day has a long history in Australia and goes back to when some of the very first Australian convicts arrived. For Paddy’s Day 2023, BentSpoke brewing have brought a bit of Dublin history to Australia with their “Tandem” collab with Teeling Whiskey. The distillery opened in the heart of Dublin in 2015 - a stone’s throw from Guinness - and while it was the first new distillery in the city in more than 125 years, the Teeling name is deeply tied to the city’s whiskey-making past.… Read more
Style
Whiskey Infused Stout
ABV
7.0%

BentSpoke Brewing Co How's It Gosen? 2022

Published November 2, 2022
With summer approaching, it's time for the brewers at BentSpoke to ask once again: "How's It Gosen?" The punny, sunny sour series returns for 2022 bursting with tropical vibes stretching from the colour of its cans to the liquid inside. This year's version has been brewed with mango and passionfruit, and for me it's the former that leads the charge. Aromatically, it fires off both the fleshy sweeter character of the fruit as well as its sour side, the latter presumably in tandem with the… Read more
Style
Tropical Gose
ABV
4.0%

BentSpoke Keep It Simple JAIPA

Published September 30, 2022
One assumes there was a tongue or two planted firmly in cheek when BentSpoke were going through the naming process. "Keep It Simple." "Just Another IPA". Right oh. Perhaps there's even a bit of a play on words going on here: JAIPA sounds a bit like Jaipur, not just a city in India but also the name of UK brewery Thornbridge's iconic IPA. Certainly, when I poured a can fresh from the fridge into a glass, held the very slightly hazy pale golden liquid to the light, then took a sniff,… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.8%
Bitterness
45 IBU

BentSpoke Brewing Cluster 8

Published August 11, 2022
Cluster 8 was one of the first limited release beers BentSpoke put into cans as part of their Drifter Series; we first wrote about it in 2018. It's not one of their beers they evolve year to year either – it has too many dyed-in-the-wool fans for that – but given how many years have passed since then, and how much the IPA landscape has changed over that period, we figured it was ripe for a revisit as it hit taps and fridges in August 2022. Still rocking the heavy-hitting six-pack of hops that… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.8%
Bitterness
65 IBU
Stockists

Find Cluster 8 here

BentSpoke Brewing Stratus

Published July 6, 2022
Given they have more than one IPA in their core range and make one of Australia’s best-known West Coasts, it seems a little odd that BentSpoke have never released a hazy one in cans. That omission has been rectified with the arrival of Stratus, a cloudy IPA with eyes on the sky that joins the brewery's limited release Drifter series.. Picking it as the first canned hazy was a natural choice too, with Stratus a regular sight at the Braddon brewpub and one of the most popular growler-fills in the… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
7.2%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Descent 22

Published June 14, 2022
Each year, BentSpoke mark their birthday by putting out Descent: an imperial stout that's spent time in oak. It's never quite the same beer, however, and in 2021 took a bit of a step to the left thanks to the impact of wild yeasts in some of the barrels in which the liquid was aged. It returned in June 22 for their eighth birthday, and again there were wild yeasts at play in the foeders that housed the beer for six months before blending and packaging. In 2021, I found the wild yeasts to have added… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0%

BentSpoke Brewing & Italian and Sons Regina

Published May 25, 2022
What’s the perfect beer style to pair with pizza? Personally, the crisp, hoppy combination of an Italian pils feels like a winning way to go but BentSpoke have another answer. The Canberra brewery have partnered with their Braddon neighbours at Italian and Sons to create the pizza-fermented pale ale, Regina. The collab is part of BentSpoke's Freewheeler series which celebrates community and saw the brewers take some of the pizza and wine bar’s 20-year-old sourdough starter to ferment the beer.… Read more
Style
Pizza-Fermented Pale Ale
ABV
4.2%

BentSpoke & Malt Shovel Brewers BXW

Published April 16, 2022
Malt Shovel Brewers and BentSpoke have assembled like Power Rangers once more to create a new collaborative beer. This time around, they've served up the Belgian Extra White Ale, or as the cool kids are calling it, the Bentshovel BXW. It feels so very Australian to take a beer style with roots in one of the world's great brewing nations, muck around with it, and give it a neat abbreviation too: "Yeah, monks. We know how you’ve been brewing this sort of things for hundreds of years and stuff… Read more
Style
Strong Witbier
ABV
6.0%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Hop Juice

Published November 9, 2021
Over the past couple of years, it's been around about now that BentSpoke have released an easy-going fruit gose for summer, with the punsome How's It Gosen? coming in tropical and cherry iterations. Whether it's a sign of the times, or BentSpoke's brewers just fancying a change, or merely a precursor for another gose, their pre-summer Drifter release for 2021 is instead a JPA – with their addition to the beer world's abbreviations short for Juicy Pale Ale. There are plenty of beers around at the… Read more
Style
Juicy Pale Ale with Mango & Tangerine
ABV
4.8%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Budding Cells: Flemm

Published July 28, 2021
Joining BentSpoke’s well-loved core range, limited release Drifters, and the boundary-pushing Bending Spoke releases is a new series – and an old beer. Budding Cells looks to pay tribute to barrel-aged and mixed culture beers by giving them a chance to shine under their own banner. It’s a fitting name and series too, given the Canberra brewery has a history with utilising barrels that goes back further than most indie breweries have been in existence. The Flanders red ale named Flemm, for instance,… Read more
Style
Flanders Red Ale
ABV
5.0%
Stockists

Take a look at the BentSpoke beer finder.

BentSpoke Brewing Co Descent 21

Published June 9, 2021
Rich and Tracy from BentSpoke were good enough to come along to The Crafty Pint's IPA Blind Tasting Championship as part of Pint of Origin at Good Beer Week 2021. Their reward, along with all the other guests – brewers and paying attendees – was to spend two weeks in quarantine after it turned out a positive COVID case had been in the pub at the same time. Thankfully, they escaped in time to celebrate the brewery's seventh birthday the day after quarantine ended. And thankfully for those of us… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0%
Stockists

And other retailers found here

BentSpoke & Yakima Chief Hops Hopwheeler IPA

Published May 19, 2021
Given BentSpoke's flagship IPA, Crankshaft, holds the number one spot in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers at time of writing and is just one of many highly-rated IPAs in the Canberra brewer's oeuvre, what happens when they team up with one of the world's leader growers of hops? The short answer is Hopwheeler, launching at Good Beer Week 2021. But there's a bit more to it than that. The IPA is part of the EXP Series kickstarted by Yakima Chief Hops in 2020, in which they work with brewers to… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.8%
Bitterness
35 IBU
Stockists

Then nationwide

For more on the EXP Series, head here

BentSpoke Brewing & Malt Shovel Brewers BentShovel XBA

Published May 6, 2021
What's an XBA, you ask? Why, this is.* This is the third annual collaboration between Malt Shovel and BentSpoke as they celebrate their friendship and mutual love of Belgian style ales. The 2021 iteration of BentShovel brings together a chewy amber malt bill, new-school hop varieties Idaho 7 and Cashmere and a farmhouse yeast to tie it all up with some of that lovely Belgian banana and spice character - all of which adds up to create an Extra Belgian Ale. The deep hues in the glass tell of the malt… Read more
Style
XBA
ABV
6.0%
Bitterness
38 IBU

BentSpoke Brewing Co How's It Gosen? Cherry Sour

Published October 29, 2020
How's it gosen? Pretty good, thanks, BentSpoke, especially now those of us in the Victorian wing of the Crafty team are looking forward to pubs and travel and friends and Christmas and stuff. How's it's gosen with you guys and girls? A little sour 'n' salty, hey? Ah well, you're looking pretty in pink to me. Summer's coming, which means BentSpoke have returned to a template that worked well for them last time around, albeit with a new spin. The first How's It Gosen? featured passionfruit and mango… Read more
Style
Cherry Gose
ABV
4.0%
Stockists

Available from the Braddon brewpub now

Nationwide from Nov 3

Crafty Cabal members have the chance to win a case too

More stockists...

BentSpoke Brewing Co Descent 20

Published June 9, 2020
It's always nice when things fall into place. Like travel and overnight restrictions easing in Victoria in time for the long weekend then remembering to get onto booking a campsite straight away to snap up one of the handful of ensuite sites before they're gone. And, better still, having a courier pull up outside the house just as you're hooking up your caravan, having given up hope of your Descent 20 samples arriving in time to be enjoyed – as the BentSpoke team recommends – in the company of… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0%
Bitterness
72 IBU

BentSpoke Brewing Co Flemm

Published May 1, 2020
Something new from BentSpoke that's been around a long time in more ways than one (how very BentSpoke, no?). Flemm is their autumnal Bending Spoke limited release, but this take on the Flanders Red style popularised by Rodenbach – inspired by a sampling session at the Belgian brewery many years ago – was first brewed by brewery co-founder Richard Watkins more than a decade and a half ago. Now it becomes one of the first such beers to appear in cans in Australia. A blend of three beers – one… Read more
Style
Flanders Red
ABV
5.0%
Stockists

Check the BentSpoke beer finder

Malt Shovel Brewers & BentSpoke BentShovel Belgian Blond

Published March 3, 2020
When you live in a bubble, it’s easy to forget what the world looks (and tastes) like outside the bubble. And in our Aussie beer bubble, we sometimes forget that flavourful but easy-drinking beers don’t have to be hoppy. Malt Shovel Brewer Richard Van Grootel - the viking you see on decal wielding a bent shovel in one hand, and a delicious cone of fries in the other - went travelling through Europe in 2018 and was reminded just how good Belgian blond ales can be. He returned home inspired, but… Read more
Style
Belgian Blond
ABV
6.0%

BentSpoke Brewing Co How's It Gosen?

Published November 15, 2019
For a brewery (and brewer) that's put out some of the most complex and, on occasion, confronting sour beers to grace Australia palates, BentSpoke's punsome How's It Gosen? is something of a surprise. It's a beer that's been a popular drop on tap at the Braddon brewpub for some time and here becomes their latest Drifter can release in time for summer 2019/20. And why is it a surprise? Well, mainly because it's so straight down the line, clean and easy-going (which, presumably, was the aim). The fruit… Read more
Style
Tropical Gose
ABV
4.0%
Stockists

BentSpoke Brewpub

And heaps more here

BentSpoke Brewing Co Big Nut

Published July 10, 2019
The latest beer to make its way into cans as part of BentSpoke’s limited release Drifter series is another popular pour from the Braddon brewpub: Big Nut. The name itself stems from one of the taps at the brewpub, all of which are the work of Peter Rogers. Peter and BentSpoke head brewer Richard Watkins have known each other for years and have their working relationship locked down. Sometimes Richard comes up with a beer and Peter goes away and designs a handle, other times Richard creates a handle… Read more
Style
Black IPA
ABV
6.8%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Descent 19

Published June 11, 2019
Given his history at the Wig & Pen, there would have been an expectation when BentSpoke opened in Canberra that Richard Watkins would be set free to unleash an array of the experimental and the unlikely upon drinkers. Yet, while visitors to the brewery's Braddon HQ have been able to try a multitude of styles on tap, when it's come to the beers sent further afield they've tended to be of the contemporary and hop forward variety, from Barley Griffin to Crankshaft, Sprocket, Red Nut and Cluster… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout
ABV
10.0%
Stockists

And other stockists here

BentSpoke Brewing Drifter Series: Cluster 8

Published October 2, 2018
Cluster 8 is a beer that’s long been poured at BentSpoke’s Braddon brewpub and is part of a series of Clusters that, as far as we're aware, has been pushed as high as Cluster 18 so far – with the biggest in the series an IIIIIIPA weighing in at 18 percent ABV. This is where the series started out, however, a double IPA that brings together one serious combination of hops in Galaxy, Citra, Mosaic, Centennial, Simcoe and Amarillo to create a beer that packs both a juicy and tropical punch along… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.8%

BentSpoke Brewing Co Sprocket (Can)

Published October 16, 2017
With such a fine lineup of beers covering a broad array of styles – IPAs of every size, farmhouse style ales, lagers, red ales, brown ales, experimental releases and so on – it can be tough to settle on a favourite from the BentSpoke stable. Yet our first encounter with Sprocket, in its original format, led to its appearance as the brewery's representative in The Great Australian Beer Guide at the expense of more popular fellow IPA, Crankshaft. It's easy to go either way, however; one waft of… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
7.0%
Stockists

Find Sprocket here

BentSpoke Brewing Co GFG (Can)

Published October 16, 2017
Joining Sprocket as the first of two beers in BentSpoke's "Drifter Series" of canned releases is GFG, AKA Gluten Friendly Ginger. It's uses an enzyme brewers can add to break down gluten from any barley or wheat in the beer to make it suitable for some people with gluten intolerance. And, of course, it uses ginger – and plenty of it too. The beer won a vote run through the brewery's website last year asking which one drinkers would most like to see in a can and it certainly offers something… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
4.0%
Stockists

Find GFG here

BentSpoke Brewing Co Cans

Published November 11, 2016
A year ago, BentSpoke announced plans to open a second, larger brewery it its hometown of Canberra. Part of the plan for the second site was to start packaging their beers. And now they are, with Barley Griffin and Crankshaft IPA the first two beers to receive tinnie treatment. For those who've come across beers such as Colonial's Small Ale in cans and enjoyed the "flip top" lids that turn the can into a wide mouthed drinking vessel, you'll be pleased to know BentSpoke have gone down that… Read more
Style
Pale Ale & American IPA
ABV
4.2% & 5.8%
Bitterness
18 IBU & 35 IBU

BentSpoke Brewing Co Reflector & Fugg'n'Chino

Published April 11, 2016
The good burghers of Canberra can get their hands on a fresh hop beer with the release of Reflector by BentSpoke. The beer has been brewed with wet Galaxy hop cones delivered straight to the brewery from the Rostrevor hop farm in the Victorian High Country. It's a red amber ale, comes with a bicycle reflector tap handle to reflect its hue, and its fresh hop character doesn't end when the beer makes its way to the tap; Reflector is being served through the brewery’s bar top infuser known as the… Read more
Style
Various
ABV
Various
Stockists

BentSpoke Brewpub

BentSpoke Brewing Co 1st Birthday Beers

Published June 6, 2015
With their first birthday falling on the Queens' Birthday long weekend, BentSpoke figured they'd treat their customers to more than one birthday beer. Four, in fact. One was released each day from Friday to Monday, with the first to be tapped the third in a series of historical beers created in partnership with local beer historian David Hughes (pictured below right). Blow Your Bagpipe is a strong Scottish ale, which follows the tasting notes of David Booth, from the Art of Brewing, published in… Read more
Style
Various
ABV
Various
Stockists

BentSpoke Brewing Co