Urban Alley Brewery is amongst those venues which will not be reopening due to the updated restrictions in Victoria. It had originally planned to reopen on the 26th of June.

St Andrews Beach Brewery will also not be opening to increased patrons, but will continue to be open 7 days a week with limited capacity.

On BentSpoke Brewing Co.’s Bent Brewers Live, Richard Watkins catches up with James Smith from The Crafty Pint and Matt Kirkegaard from Australian Brews News this Thursday (25th June) on the BentSpoke Facebook or YouTube channel.

Aether Brewing has announced that it will open its Northgate taproom from this Friday (26th). With current restrictions the Brisbane brewer can welcome 40 people, and until restrictions ease it will be introducing an online booking system to regulate patrons. For bookings hit the link below.

Another taproom opening is 3 Ravens, which will be reopening this Friday as well at 3pm. It is limited to only 30 people at one time so bookings are recommended. Max 10 per table and per booking. 2 hour limit per booking.

In SA, restrictions are being relaxed. As of last week (19th June) SA venues including pubs and restaurants will be able to welcome up to 300 people, with room and group limits of 75 people, with one person per 4 square metres of floor space. As of next Monday (29th June) restrictions in SA will be lifted across the state and replaced by a one person per 2 square-metres density rule.

It has also launched the South Australian COVIDSafe Awards which aim to recognise and reward South Australian businesses who have demonstrated innovation and compliance with COVID-19 directions. A winner from each category will be awarded $5,000. Email a 300 word summary detailing your innovation and compliance (see Criteria below for assistance) along with your business/organisation name, contact details and ABN to sahealthawards@sa.gov.au by Sunday 5th July.

The government has launched its Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme to provide support businesses, providing a guarantee of 50 per cent to small and medium enterprise (SME) lenders for new unsecured loans to be used for working capital.

Business Victoria has launched free online learning courses for small businesses.

The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation Queensland has launched digital ID trials in Hervey Bay and Maryborough. As part of the trials, customers can use the digital licence app as proof of age.

Woolworths decided it would be deferring the divestment of Endeavour Drinks Group, owners of Dan Murphy’s and BWS, back in March. However it told the stock markets this week that the costs will be felt in FY2020. It’s costing the group around $275 million to complete the demerger. The hotel arm of the business issued a warning that profits would be in the $160-170 million range in FY2020 due to venue closures during COVID-19, down from $355 million in 2019.

Capital Brewing Co. has invested in a centrifuge, which it says can improve its yield by 50 cases per batch after the beer is clarified and used hops can be composted.