When you buy a case of beer a decent chunk of that price is going to the federal government.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And as of August 1, they'll be getting even more money.
The reason is because of the twice-yearly indexation increase on the beer excise - a tax paid by brewers on every beer they make.
And because it's linked to the CPI, when inflation goes up, so does the beer tax.
From August 1, the excise jumps by 4 per cent.
The tax will rise from $53.59 to $55.73 per litre of alcohol.
When it comes to a slab of beer, the tax will increase by around 80 cents, to $18.80.
The tax paid on a keg will climb by around $4 to almost $74, and rise from 80c to 84c on a pint.
Five Barrel Brewing's Phil O'Shea admitted a 4 per cent rise may not seem like much - until you consider how much of the price of beer is excise tax.
"The reality is excise makes up about half of the cost of [brewing] most packaged beer, so it's actually a pretty substantial amount of money that's been added to the cost of everything," Mr O'Shea said.
He said, as an example, $18 of the cost in making a case of their Freefall pale ale is excise tax - Mr O'Shea said that was half the total cost of making that beer.
It is brewers who have to pay the tax when they brew the beer but many will be forced to pass the costs down the line, to the pub or bottle shop and then onto the consumer.
And Mr O'Shea thinks it's what he might have to do with Five Barrel's beers.
"Someone's got to eat that cost and with excise I feel it's really hard not to justify putting your prices up, because it is such a substantial amount of money," he said.
However, along with putting up the prices, he felt the industry needed to educate drinkers on just how much the government tax contributes to the cost of beer and that it goes up twice a year.
CEO of the Brewers Association of Australia John Preston said the increase was the largest in over three decades.
"Australians are taxed on beer more than almost any other nation," Mr Prescott said.
"We have seen almost 20 increases in Australia's beer tax over the past decade alone."
Mr Prescott said the association knew that the new federal treasurer Jim Chalmers had inherited the excise tax issue from the previous government but said there was "a strong case" for beer tax relief in the coming budget.
Mr Chalmers wouldn't commit to an excise cut.
"We listen respectfully to ideas put to us but having inherited a trillion dollars in debt and with lots of other pressures on the budget it's not possible to fund every one of them," he said.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.