There has been a run a good news stories out of Western Australia's beer scene in recent weeks, but that run has been broken with Margaret River-based Black Brewing Co entering voluntary administration.
The brewery in the heart of wine country on Caves Road, which also runs Dune Distilling, is closing its restaurant tomorrow (June 15) although plans to continue operating as a wholesale business for the time being. The Crafty Pint understands the higher cost of production is a key factor behind the business entering administration.
The news comes less than a year after Black Brewing Co took out the Champion WA Brewery at the Indies, following which we ran a feature on head brewer Gavin Williams. They join a number of WA brewing companies to go into administration over the past 12 months: Golden West brought in administrators in February, with their Subiaco venue taken on by FOUND.; Sound Brewing Co in Rockingham was acquired by Cheeky Monkey late last year; and South Freo-based Running With Thieves went through a period of voluntary administration last August and is now under a new ownership team that includes people who were silent shareholders in the original business.
The last of these has a past connection with Black Brewing Co too: one of the founders of Black Brewing Co – which took over the site previously run by Duckstein Brewery in 2016 – was Scott Douglas, who launched Running With Thieves after leaving the Caves Road business; the original head brewer at Black, Paul Gasmier, also went on to head up production at the South Freo operation.
Best known in WA beer circles for their Bao Bao Milk Stout, Black Brewing Co picked up a slew of medals, including two golds, just last week at the Perth Royal Beer Awards.
In a statement posted to their socials citing "unforeseen circumstances", the brewery team said: "Since 2016, we have been operating with a fire in our belly for good times and a passion that will last a lifetime. We have been lucky enough to work with some very talented creators and innovators to create quality products and serve a level of hospitality in both our restaurant and as an events venue that will last as memories for all involved.
"With this being said, we would like to thank you all for being a part of our time in this beautiful region and to praise your loyalty to us as a local brewery, distillery and restaurant. It’s been an eight-year journey full of action and some awesome staff that we would also like to thank for being a part of our story."
A notice published on the ASIC website yesterday (June 13) states that the company that operates as Black Brewing Co and Dune Distilling Co, Very Luxury Very Famous Co. Pty Ltd, appointed Avior Consulting as administrators on June 11. The first meeting of creditors takes place on June 20.
The Crafty Pint has contacted the administrator for comment.
James Smith launched The Crafty Pint in 2010, two years after moving to Australia from the UK. He was taken to Mountain Goat within weeks of landing in Melbourne, joined their indoor cricket team, and is still navigating the rabbit hole that is craft beer to this day.
The beers that turned you on to good beer:
- Watching pints of McEwan's 80 Shilling settle when visiting family in Edinburgh.
- Pints of flat Bass from the jug at the Cap & Stocking in Kegworth.
- A first Paulaner Hefeweizen when working in Munich in 1998: “This smells of bananas!”
- Castle Rock Harvest Pale – how could a 3.8 percent ABV beer be so good? (It turns out it was an early example of the three Cs – Cascade, Centennial and Columbus – in an English bitter).
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA poured through hops at the Sunset Grill in Cambridge, MA, in the company of a man who turned out to be the Beer Nut (while we were both covering a double murder case at the time).
- Ordering a Mountain Goat Hightail on my first day as an Aussie resident as it was local and I’d never heard of it; “A dark Australian beer; well I never…”
- Murray’s Icon 2IPA at Beer DeLuxe Fed Square, recommended by a guy I’d not long known who's now the main man at Fixation, served by Mik Halse, now head of sales at Hawkers. How could an Australian beer smell as good as that?!?
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Any really good, fresh and balanced West Coast style IPA. Punchy hop aromatics are the most obvious way to capture someone's attention and these IPAs, done well, present the key components in beer (if you're sticking to just water, malt, hops and yeast) in harmony yet with the volume turned up.
- Saison Dupont. Arguably a selfish choice here as I bloody love the broad saison style and dearly hope it will finally take hold in Australia one day. Given a choice, I'd probably crack one enlivened with Brettanomyces like Molly Rose Matilde for myself but, when it comes to turning on someone new, you've got to go with the classic.
- Rodenbach Caractère Rouge. Because if you don't enjoy or can't appreciate this beer, I'll never win you over. And because Filip, the fruit and wood specialist at Rodenbach that designed it, is a beautiful human.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Fixation IPA at The Incubator.
Three things that represent you:
- The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Golden Plains
NB All articles written by James in the first eight years of the site appear as By Crafty Pint. Today, that's used for collaborative efforts by the wider team.
