Quick answer
Craft breweries and distilleries borrow for fermenters, stills, canning and bottling lines, taproom or cellar-door fit-outs, ageing stock and distribution growth. Lenders focus on excise management, distributor terms, taproom versus wholesale income and how long stock takes to become cash. Large equipment and fit-outs usually suit property security; smaller stock and cash-flow needs can be unsecured.
Key points
- Excise is paid when product enters the domestic market, often before distributors pay you.
- The ATO's remission scheme cap for eligible manufacturers rose to $400,000 from 1 July 2026.
- Taproom income is fast cash; wholesale income is slower but bigger.
- Specialised brewing and distilling equipment is valued cautiously.
- Common uses
- Tanks, stills, canning lines, taprooms
- Lenders focus on
- Excise, distributors, cash conversion
- Unsecured options
- Typically $5k – $500k
- Property-secured
- $20k – $5m
Craft brewing and distilling combine two businesses under one roof: a manufacturer with expensive, specialised equipment, and a hospitality venue with a taproom or cellar door. Add excise, distributors and, for spirits, years of ageing, and you have one of the most cash-hungry corners of the food and drink world. Lenders who understand it look at the whole cycle, from grain or botanicals to the day the money actually lands.
What do breweries and distilleries usually borrow for?
- Brewhouse and tank capacity. More fermenters and brite tanks to meet demand, or a larger brewhouse.
- Stills and ageing. Copper stills, barrels and the space to store them.
- Packaging lines. Canning or bottling lines that bring outsourced packaging in-house.
- Taproom and cellar-door fit-outs. Often the highest-margin part of the business.
- Excise and working capital. Covering excise and ingredient costs as volumes grow faster than distributors pay.
How do lenders look at a craft producer?
The excise cycle. Beer and spirits attract excise when they’re delivered into the Australian market for home consumption, and manufacturers need an excise licence. The ATO’s page on excise on beer sets out the basics. A lender wants to see returns lodged and paid on time, because excise arrears are one of the fastest ways for a small producer to get into trouble.
Remissions. Eligible manufacturers can claim excise remission up to an annual cap under the ATO’s remission scheme for alcohol manufacturers. The cap was $350,000 from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026 and is $400,000 from 1 July 2026. For a growing producer, where you sit relative to that cap affects cash flow — and lenders will ask.
Taproom versus wholesale. Taproom sales are immediate and high margin. Wholesale through distributors and venues is larger but slower, and discounts eat margin. Lenders like to see both, with no single distributor controlling the business.
Stock that takes time. Beer turns relatively quickly. Aged spirits may sit for years. Lenders rarely lend against ageing stock itself, so they look at other income and security.
Specialised equipment. Stainless tanks and stills have a real but thin second-hand market. See our guide on specialised equipment as security for how lenders treat it.
If your production is growing faster than your cash, see what your brewery or distillery could access — no credit check to enquire.
Documents to prepare
| Document | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Business bank statements | Taproom takings and wholesale receipts |
| Excise licence and recent returns | Shows compliance and excise costs |
| Distributor and venue agreements | Terms, exclusivity and payment timing |
| Production and stock records | Volumes and how long stock takes to sell |
| Equipment quotes | Links funding to capacity |
Red flags for brewery and distillery loans
- Excise arrears. Deal with them early and tell us about them.
- Unsold or ageing stock with no clear release plan.
- One distributor controlling most of your volume.
- A taproom losing money hidden inside production figures.
- Rapid expansion without the packaging or sales capacity to match.
Questions you’ll probably be asked
- What share of revenue comes from the taproom or cellar door?
- How many distributors and venues do you supply, and on what terms?
- Are excise returns current, and do you claim the remission?
- What will the new equipment let you produce or save?
- For spirits: what’s ageing, and when does it come to market?
Illustrative scenarios
Illustrative: canning line and fermenters. A craft brewery with a busy taproom wants $250k for a canning line and three more fermenters. The equipment is too specialised to carry that amount on its own, so the owners offer a second mortgage over their home. The lender sizes the loan on the property equity and the combined taproom and wholesale income.
Illustrative: gin funds the whisky. A small distillery sells gin through its cellar door while its first whisky ages. It needs $60k for a larger still and more barrels. Twelve months of banked cellar-door sales support an unsecured facility, with the whisky treated as future upside rather than security.
How to make a brewery or distillery application stronger
- Separate the taproom from production in your reporting. A simple monthly split of taproom, wholesale and online sales helps a lender see where profit is really made.
- Show your excise position clearly. A one-page summary of excise paid, remissions claimed and returns lodged over the past year answers the lender’s biggest question before it’s asked.
- Tie the equipment to a number. If a canning line saves contract packaging fees or lets you supply a new customer, put a figure on it. Lenders fund outcomes more easily than wish lists.
- Know your distributor terms. List each distributor or major venue, their payment terms and how long they’ve stocked you.
- Plan the ramp-up. New tanks take time to fill profitably. A realistic timeline shows you won’t need to borrow again in six months.
Producers who arrive with these few pages usually find the conversation shorter and the structure better suited to how the business really runs.
Secured or unsecured?
Most sizeable brewing and distilling projects suit property-secured lending, from $20k to $5m. Smaller stock, excise and working-capital needs can fit unsecured options of $5k to $500k. For grape-based producers, see the winery guide; for broader production questions, the manufacturing guide is useful too.
Is your brewery or distillery ready to talk?
You’ve built something people queue up to taste. The next step is a quick enquiry — about a minute, no credit check at that stage, and no list of lenders ringing your taproom. A real person who understands excise and distribution will look at your situation and call you. Please give accurate figures, particularly turnover, the amount and any property you own, so we can find a fit first time.
Frequently asked questions
Can a craft brewery get a loan without property?
A brewery with solid banked income from its taproom and wholesale accounts can look at unsecured options sized on turnover. Larger equipment purchases usually need property security because brewing gear is specialised and hard to value.
How does excise affect a brewery or distillery loan?
Excise is due when product is delivered into the domestic market, which can be well before distributors or venues pay you. Lenders look at whether excise returns are up to date and whether cash flow comfortably covers excise as volumes grow.
Can a distillery borrow while its whisky ages?
Ageing spirits tie up cash for years. Lenders usually lean on property security or on income from faster products such as gin or a cellar door, rather than on the ageing stock itself.
What is the excise remission scheme?
It's an ATO scheme that lets eligible alcohol manufacturers claim a remission of excise duty up to an annual cap. The cap is $400,000 from 1 July 2026, up from $350,000. It affects how much excise a small producer pays, which lenders factor into cash flow.