The Independent Brewers Association Seal of Independence that launched last month is tracking well nation wide, with breweries signing up to support the campaign ‘Ask For Indie Beer’.

Breweries across Western Australia and ACT have already publicly thrown their support behind the IBA initiative.

“We are excited to sign up to the IBA’s Independence Seal, as it will equip customers with the knowledge to make considered purchasing decisions, and will help bring the stories of Australian brewers into public discussion,” said BentSpoke Brewing Co founder Richard Watkins.

As an avid member of the IBA since the brewery’s inception in 2014, Richard said “it’s very important for independent brewers to have a united voice as a sector… and to have a forum to discuss matters that impact all small brewers.”

One of the first Western Australian brewers to sign up and publicly throw their support behind the IBA’s Independence Seal, is Margaret River Brewery Cheeky Monkey. Brewer Ross Terlick said he hopes that the rest of the state will follow their lead.

“In Western Australia, there are so many great beers being produced by a wide range of passionate brewers, and the industry is really beginning to boom.”

“As the IBA’s Seal of Independence gets bigger and starts being seen by consumers over the next few months, we hope that more Western Australian brewers will sign up and support the movement.”

As it stands, the Seal can be used on packaging, marketing collateral, merchandise, point-of-sale materials, websites, social media and other promotional material.

According to the IBA, consumers can expect to see labels appearing on IBA-member products within the next three months, however brewers aren’t do sure. To date none have added the seal to their packaging, due to cost and timing issues.

While there is strong support for the IBA Seal, Cheeky Monkey Managing Director Brent Burton says they won’t be implementing the seal into their packaging until later this year. This comes after their move to introduce bottles as well as cans to the Cheeky Monkey range. By waiting until November, Brent hopes to avoid costs associated with printing different labels.

Fortitude Brewing Director Jim O’Connor says that while he thinks the indie seal is “fantastic”, putting the seal on their packaging just isn’t a consideration right now. The brewery had just undergone a pretty extensive product rebrand before the seal was launched.

O’Connor says there are so many elements to consider when designing packaging that to go back and make those changes would be costly.

Despite delays with packaging, breweries like Stone & Wood Brewing and Wayward Brewing Company have incorporated the Indie Seal into their social media campaigns. Many have also opted to use the point-of-sale items provided by the IBA at no cost during the introductory period to support the campaign.

Update

South Australia’sBeer Garden Brewing has announced that it is displaying the IBA Independence Seal on its latest release, making it one of the first breweries to do so. The 915-bottle release will officially launch on 24 June at 1802 Oyster Bar, Coffin Bay. According to the IBA, other early adopters of the seal on their packaging include Stomping Ground, Bridge Road Brewers, Bone Head Brewing, Cheeky Monkey, Bright Brewery and Hobart Brewing.