There appears to be something in the water in Victoria. But unlike James Boag’s mystical water in Tasmania that makes things better, it is causing trouble for small breweries.
As previously reported Arctic Fox is on the market, and they have now been followed by 3 Ravens at Thornbury and equipment from The Flying Horse at Warrnambool. Though all have very different reasons for closing, it is distressing for such a small industry that any of them have had to go down this path.
Arctic Fox’s brewer, Fabian, named family and other work commitments for his team’s decision to put the brewery on the market. While the Flying Horse’s reasons for selling are apparently financial in nature – though this was an unconfirmed report at the time of writing as director was unavailable for comment.
*Edit: Managing director Matthew Monk has since confirmed that the Flying Horse has made a business decision, based on overheads and other financial reasons, to have the brewing of their beer outsourced. As such they are looking to sell their equipment to an interested party.
However, chatting to a member of the 3 Ravens team yesterday, they were adamant that the brewery is not closing for good – despite what the ad from Grays Online may imply – merely looking for a new home and a new owner with a passion for beer in order to continue on. The whole team is reportedly quite optimistic about their future and their ability to sell the brewery to a person or persons who are not only passionate about the microbrewing industry in Australia but also passionate about keeping their great brand alive. According to word on the street sales of 3 Ravens beer has been going through the roof, at triple their previous sales levels, and the brewers are keen to keep up production of their beloved brews to their increasingly thirsty clientele.
Unfortunately, this means raising the capital to move their brewery from their current location – which has to be sold due to the dissolving of the original partnership that started the brewery. So if you know of anyone who is looking to buy into a brewery or even start their own, put the call out to help save one of our craft brewing gems.