A little over a month ago the Federal Government announced changes to the excise system that will see the excise brewers pay on smaller keg formats fall to match that of the traditional 50 litre kegs.

This week we chat with Nick Boots, General Manager Kegstar Australia and New Zealand.

This had been lobbied for by small brewers for several years, and was touted to have a range of benefits across things such as workplace health and safety, beer freshness and the range of venues stocking keg beer.

Given how long brewers had been lobbying for the change, the response from some brewers was quite surprising, with many expressing a range of concerns about the negative effects the change will have and whether smaller formats would be used at all.

This week on Beer is a Conversation, Matt Kirkegaard chats with Nick Boots, General Manager Kegstar Australia and New Zealand. With the changes 12 months away, Kegstar will be paying very close attention to whether there is already demand for smaller kegs and what uptake might be.

Nick speaks about whether he thinks we will see a flood of one-way kegs from overseas, and a range of other keg trends taking place here and overseas in an attempt to divine what impacts the excise changes will have for brewers.

Enjoy the conversation.

If you like what we do at Radio Brews News you can help us out in a number of ways.

You can sponsor the show, either by a small monthly contribution or through a one-off donation.

You can also review us on iTunes or your favourite podcasting service.

Tell us what you think about what’s going on in the beer industry by emailing us at producer@brewsnews.com.au. All letter writers will receive a brews news bottle opener, and our good friends at Beer Cartel sponsor our letter for the week. We will choose an email, a tweet or a comment each week and Beer Cartel will send you a mixed six-pack plus a Brews News bottle opener.