Keen to spread the craft beer message even further throughout the national capital, Canberra’s newest beer company Pact Beer Co is set to launch its first beer this Thursday (June 4) at Transit Bar in Civic.

The Mount Tennent Pale Ale is a hoppy, refreshing and sessionable American style Pale Ale.

The pale will go on sale at craft beer bars such as Transit, The Durham Castle Arms in Kingston and the Pot Belly in Belconnen whilst Australia’s number 1 bottle shop Plonk will also be offering one and two-litre takeaway “growlers”.

Headed up by 2014 ACT and national champion homebrewer Kevin Hingston, Pact has a simple goal: to have its fantastic beer available in bars and restaurants around Canberra and across the country.

“We’ve got a number of great brew pubs around town, but it’s not that common to find local beer in the wider restaurant and bar scene. We need to change that – Canberra’s great local restaurants all need great craft beer to match. Pact is about broadening our local space. We want to grow support for the local beer and food scene.”

Pact is initially launching its beers on tap, but plan to produce bottled beer soon and ramp up to a local production facility in the future. For now Pact will collaborate by “gypsy brewing” with independent breweries to get the product to market. “It’s really exciting to work with these experienced brewers,” Hingston says. “They’re really getting behind what we’re trying to do.”

As well as launching their core Pale Ale, Pact have brewed a special Quince-infused German wheat beer, the Three Lakes Hefeweizen, for the Great Australasian Beer Spectapular (GABS), an annual beer festival held in Sydney and Melbourne.

“It was really exciting to get the call up to brew for GABS.” Hingston said. “The festival beers are always pretty creative, so I knew I had to brew my signature quince beer. I’m really glad we’re able to launch with these two very different beers – one showcasing our core sessionable approach, and one displaying our more experimental side.”

Pact are holding a launch event at Transit Bar, 7 Akuna Street Canberra City from 6pm on Thursday, June 4. Come along for fantastic beer and great music from local bands.

Thirsty for Pact?The Mount Tennent Pale Ale and the Three Lakes Hefeweizen are pouring from June 4 at:

• Transit Bar, Akuna Street, Canberra City.
• The Durham Castle Arms, Green Square, Kingston.
• The Pot Belly Bar, Weedon Close, Belconnen
• Take home “Growler” fills at Plonk, Fyshwick Markets