diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 7ed90d3a19..28f08d632f 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     <property name="debuglevel" value="source,lines,vars"/>
 
     <!-- default version and SCM information -->
-    <property name="base.version" value="3.0.0-alpha1"/>
+    <property name="base.version" value="3.0.0-beta1"/>
     <property name="scm.connection" value="scm:git://git.apache.org/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.developerConnection" value="scm:git://git.apache.org/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.url" value="http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf?p=cassandra.git;a=tree"/>
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 210a2c1bb7..b43424d192 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+cassandra (3.0.0~beta1) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New beta release
+
+ -- Jake Luciani <jake@apache.org>  Fri, 21 Aug 2015 22:33:04 -0400
+
 cassandra (3.0.0~alpha1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * New alpha release