From July, small breweries will be able to claim a 100 per cent rebate on the excise, which is the tax paid on alcohol products ready for sale, up to a cap of $350,000.

The current tax scheme allows a 60 per cent rebate up to $100,000 and the Treasury has estimated that the average craft brewery will save $55,000 in tax.

Tumut River Brewing co-founder Tim Martin said he was still seeking information from the Australian Taxation Office on how much the changes would affect his business.

"Any kind of savings on tax would be huge for us; I'd love to say that the price of our beer would go down but unfortunately that's probably not the case," he said.

"That rebate, as great as it will be, won't cover us for an entire year of production so it's really hard to calculate and pass those savings on.

"On the flipside, 12 months after this comes in we will be able to produce beer at a cheaper rate than we were before, which will help us be more profitable and will allow us to potentially invest more in our business and our region."

Mr Martin said the tax changes would allow him to invest in more employees and greater support for the community.

"I'm pretty excited about what this will mean in terms of reinvesting in the business and I think most brewers will be in the same boat."

Veteran Brewing Company's Tim Lewis launched new beer brands this month with the aim of having over 50 per cent of the profits set aside for veterans' causes, such as the Wagga Defence Shed.

"Anything that is a reduction in tax and excise is for small brewers is positive for the industry and for me in particular it just means there is more profit to put into veteran causes," he said.

In other news

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the changes would bring the craft beer industry's tax system into line with that of the wine industry.

"This change will allow these small businesses right around Australia, particularly in rural and regional Australia, where two thirds of them are currently set up, to go and hire more people, to go and invest in their business to grow, to get the new equipment and machinery that they need," Mr Frydenberg said.

Independent Brewers Association chairman Peter Philip said 42 cents in every dollar of independent brewer revenue had been consumed by some form of federal tax.

Association general manager Kylie Lethbridge said the group had forecast "investment of more than $500 million in new manufacturing capability as well as the creation of an additional 6300 direct and 23,000 supporting jobs over the next five years" many of which would be in rural and regional Australia.

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