Quick answer
Craft brewers and distillers usually borrow for brewhouses, fermenters, stills, canning and bottling lines, taproom fit-outs and the working capital to carry stock and excise. Equipment finance suits most production gear, a line of credit covers excise and ingredients, and property-secured loans fund venues or ageing whisky stock. Lenders look closely at sales channels, excise compliance and how much of the margin depends on the alcohol excise remission scheme.
Key points
- Excise is payable when product leaves bond, often weeks before trade customers pay, so it creates a recurring cash gap
- The remission scheme replaced the excise refund scheme, giving automatic relief up to a cap that rose from $350,000 to $400,000 a year on 1 July 2026
- Draught beer excise indexation is frozen until August 2027, but packaged beer and spirits still index twice a year
- Whisky, brandy and rum must be matured in wood for at least two years before sale, so distillers carry stock far longer than brewers
What do brewers and distillers borrow for? Mostly stainless steel, packaging and time. The steel is the brewhouse, the fermenters and the stills. The packaging is the canning line, the bottles, the labels. And the time is the gap between paying for malt, botanicals and excise and finally collecting from the bottle shops, pubs and distributors who stock your product. For distillers making brown spirits, that gap stretches into years.
Both trades sit in the same excise system and share many of the same lenders, but their cash problems are different enough to deal with separately.
Brewery or distillery: how the money behaves
| Craft brewery | Craft distillery | |
|---|---|---|
| Time from ingredients to sale | Weeks for most beers | Days for gin and vodka; two years or more for whisky, brandy and rum |
| Biggest capital items | Brewhouse, fermenters, cold room, canning line | Pot or column stills, barrels, bonded storage, bottling |
| Stock risk | Freshness: beer goes stale | Capital locked in casks for years |
| Typical early revenue | Taproom, kegs to local venues, cans to bottle shops | Gin, liqueurs and cellar door sales while brown spirits mature |
| What lenders worry about | Crowded market, discounting, distributor terms | Long payback, valuing maturing stock |
A brewery’s financing problem is usually about scaling: more tanks, more packaging, more working capital as volumes grow. A distillery’s is about patience: funding the business through years when the most valuable product can’t legally be sold.
Why does excise drive so much of the cash flow?
Duty falls due once beer or spirits are released from bond into the domestic market, and licensed manufacturers with periodic settlement permission typically lodge returns weekly or monthly. Trade accounts, meanwhile, commonly take a month or two to settle. That mismatch means a growing brewery is effectively lending the ATO’s money to its customers every month.
Three current settings shape the numbers:
The remission scheme. The old excise refund scheme for alcohol manufacturers has been replaced by a remission scheme. Instead of paying duty and claiming it back, eligible producers get relief automatically up to an annual cap. According to the ATO, that cap was $350,000 a year up to 30 June 2026 and rose to $400,000 from 1 July 2026. Related producers share a single cap, which matters if you run more than one entity. For many small and mid-sized producers, the remission covers all excise for much of the year, then full duty kicks in once the cap is used. Lenders want to know where in the year that happens for you, because cash flow can tighten sharply after the cap is reached.
The draught beer freeze. Indexation of excise on draught beer (kegs) was frozen from August 2025, with the August 2025, February 2026, August 2026 and February 2027 increases cancelled. Indexation is scheduled to resume in August 2027. Packaged beer, spirits and ready-to-drink products were not included and continue to index each February and August. Brewers selling a lot of kegs got a small, steady benefit; those selling mostly cans did not.
Spirits rates are steep. Excise on spirits is charged at a much higher rate per litre of alcohol than beer, so once a distillery passes its remission cap, the cash needed to release product from bond climbs quickly.
A business line of credit sized to cover excise and ingredient purchases for a couple of months is one of the most useful facilities a growing producer can hold. If excise has already fallen behind, our page on ATO tax debt business loans explains how lenders treat it.
Planning an expansion or a new tank order? Send us the details; a specialist will review it, and your credit score isn’t affected by asking.
What finance fits brewery and distillery equipment?
Most production gear sits well on equipment finance: a chattel mortgage if you want to own it, or a lease if you’d rather upgrade later. A few points specific to this industry:
- Recognised brands finance more easily. Lenders are more comfortable with equipment that has an active second-hand market. One-off custom builds may need a deposit or additional security.
- Installation costs add up. Glycol systems, drainage, three-phase power and steam generation can rival the cost of the tanks. These are harder to secure on their own and are often funded from a term loan or property equity.
- Packaging lines change the economics. Moving from contract canning to your own line can cut per-unit costs, but only at volume. Lenders will want to see the sales that justify it.
- Barrels are equipment too. For distillers, casks are a significant ongoing spend and can sometimes be financed alongside other gear.
Our equipment finance calculator shows what a particular piece of kit might cost in repayments, and buying machinery compares the ways to fund it.
How does the maturation rule affect a distillery’s borrowing?
Under the Excise Act, spirits sold as whisky, brandy or rum must have been matured in wood for at least two years. Many craft distillers age considerably longer. Every litre laid down today is capital tied up until at least 2028, with excise to pay when it’s eventually released.
That’s why so many Australian distilleries open with gin, vodka, liqueurs and a cellar door: they generate cash while the casks mature. Lenders will look at whether those faster products cover the running costs on their own. Some specialist lenders will advance funds against maturing casks, but they lend a conservative share of value, and they want meticulous cask records: fill date, volume, strength, wood type and bond status.
The taproom and cellar door question
For many producers, the venue is where the money is made. A pint or a cocktail poured on site earns several times the margin of a keg or bottle sold to a venue, and it’s paid on the spot. Lenders like taprooms and cellar doors for the same reason. Fit-outs (bar, cool room, kitchen, seating, toilets) can be funded with a term loan, equipment finance for the bar and kitchen gear, or a loan secured against property. If you’re moving into food, see also our pages on pubs and bars and commercial kitchen fit-outs.
Risks lenders will raise
- Market saturation. Craft beer in particular has become crowded, with discounting and closures in recent years. Lenders want a clear point of difference and a loyal channel.
- Distributor and retailer terms. Large retail chains and distributors can stretch payment, demand promotional support and delist products.
- Remission cap timing. A business that looks healthy for eight months can be squeezed once full excise applies.
- Related-entity grouping. Multiple related businesses share one remission cap, which can surprise owners expanding through a second entity.
- Licensing. A current excise manufacturer licence, local liquor licence for the venue and council approvals all need to be in place.
Documents to prepare
- Excise manufacturer licence and recent excise returns
- Twelve months of business bank statements, or two years for larger requests
- Financial statements and tax returns, plus year-to-date management accounts
- Sales by channel: taproom or cellar door, kegs, packaged retail, distributors, online
- Stock records, including cask register for distillers
- Equipment quotes and installation estimates
- Lease for production premises and venue, and any liquor licences
Example: a distillery waiting on its first whisky
Made-up example, for illustration only. A Tasmanian distillery has sold gin for three years and laid down whisky every year since opening. Its first whisky will be ready in about a year. Gin sales cover running costs, but the owners want a second still (about $180k installed) to keep up with gin demand without pausing whisky production, and they need cash to pay excise on a large pre-Christmas gin order once their remission cap runs out.
Their bank would lend on the still but not on the cask stock and wants personal guarantees backed by their home. The owners place the still on equipment finance and arrange a line of credit for excise and dry goods, secured by a second mortgage over a property they own. When the whisky releases and sells, they plan to reduce the line and approach the bank again with a fuller trading record.
Taking the next step
Whether you’re adding fermenters, buying a canning line or carrying casks through their second year, the finance exists. The key is matching it to how your product moves from tank or still to customer.
The first step is short: a minute or so to enquire, and your credit file is left exactly as it is. Your information isn’t handed around a panel of funders, so your phone stays quiet. A real person reads your enquiry, gets to know your operation and calls you. Please be accurate about volumes, sales channels and excise position so the first option we discuss is one that works.
Frequently asked questions
Can I finance a brewhouse or still with equipment finance?
Yes. Brewhouses, fermenters, bright tanks, stills and packaging lines are commonly financed with a chattel mortgage or lease, secured by the equipment. Highly customised gear has a thinner resale market, so some lenders ask for a larger deposit or extra security.
How do distilleries fund whisky while it ages?
Most fund the early years with faster-selling products like gin, vodka or liqueurs, plus equity or property-secured lending. A few lenders will advance against maturing casks, but usually conservatively, and they want clear records of cask contents, age and excise status.
Does the excise remission scheme affect how much I can borrow?
It can. Relief up to the annual cap is a real part of many small producers' margins, and lenders look at it when assessing cash flow. They may also ask whether you're grouped with related producers, because related entities share one cap.
Can I get a loan to open a taproom or cellar door?
Yes. Venue fit-outs are often funded with a term loan, equipment finance for the kitchen and bar, or a property-secured loan. Lenders like taprooms because direct sales carry better margins and are paid immediately.
My bank declined my brewery loan. What now?
Some banks see craft beverage start-ups as higher risk because of competition and thin early margins. Non-bank lenders often focus on equipment value, bank statements and venue trading instead, and can move faster. Property security widens the options further.
Do lenders care about my excise licence?
Yes. A current manufacturer licence and up-to-date excise returns show the business is compliant and that the income is legitimate. Overdue excise is treated much like any other tax debt and needs to be disclosed.