Thirty Years Of Pioneering Beers

The Crafty Pint Podcast · Sep 3, 2025 · 1h 17m

“We’re lucky to work in an industry that’s a lot about fun.”

This week’s guests need little, if any, introduction. Not only is BentSpoke – the brewery launched in a Braddon brewpub in 2014 and now a national brand – one of the country’s best-loved operations, but its founders have connections with Canberra’s beer scene stretching back three decades.

Richard Watkins and Tracy Margrain met while working in the kitchen at the Wig & Pen, a tiny Canberra brewpub that became a hotbed for experimentation and innovation. Once he’d swapped the stovetop for the mash tun, Richard started hunting down…