Matilda Bay's Port Melbourne home is to close. The decision to cease brewing operations and close the brewery bar at the Bertie Street site was announced to staff on Thursday morning (13/11). Both will close by March 2015. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the confirmation that Lion is to close down White Rabbit in Healesville and move it to the Little Creatures site in Geelong.
The closure of Port Melbourne (pictured above), which was opened in 2012, will "impact ten roles". Production of some of the beers currently brewed there will move to Cascade Brewery in Hobart, where CUB has stated they are investing capital to allow them to brew smaller batches than is currently possible. Once Port Melbourne closes, Scott Vincent will take on the role of Head Brewer of Matilda Bay in addition to his role as the company's Brewing Innovation Manager.
It will mean Matilda Bay – widely acknowledged as the longest-established of the modern wave of craft breweries in Australia, having launched in Fremantle 30 years ago before moving to Victoria, initially to the Garage facility in Dandenong – will no longer have a "home" for visitors to come to. Instead the intention, according to a statement from CUB, is that "the consumer facing experience will continue through partnerships with our customers in brewery bars, such as the recently opened General Assembly brewery bar in South Wharf, Melbourne."
CUB's head brewer Jaideep Chandrasekharan says that the investment at Cascade will allow them to produce smaller batches of certain brands than is currently feasible at the historic site. And, at this point, he says all beers currently released under the Matilda Bay banner will continue to be brewed, including the Brewers Reserve beers, such as Alpha Pale Ale and Dogbolter.
"The growth in craft means that we have got to invest in small batch capacity," he told The Crafty Pint. "We need intermediate [capacity] between the Garage [Port Melbourne] and Cascade so we're spending money at Cascade to make smaller batches and more diverse beers.
"There's a growing diversity in styles but also in people's appreciation of beer. We're seeing that in what people are buying and also our consumer research shows people looking for different types of beer."
While the finer details of the transition are worked out over the coming months, he says the focus on "craft" within CUB will remain under the Matilda Bay and, to a degree, Cascade banners, but also says the release of Crown Golden Ale is "an example of Crown offering something different to drinkers" in the domestic premium sector of the market.
As for the job losses announced across various CUB sites today, he says: "Certainly my focus over the coming months is really making sure that we manage the transition for the staff, which is just as, if not more, important as the beer. We will try to redeploy them internally and if we can't then give them all the support that they need to further their careers elsewhere."
Here is further information from CUB on other changes announced to their Australian operations today.
Cascade
To ensure that Cascade remains as efficient as possible, we have completed a review that will result in ten roles being impacted. Cascade remains an important part of CUB's overall production capability servicing both the Tasmanian and mainland market, as well as now being the main small batch brewery site for our growing craft portfolio.
Campbelltown
With cider continuing to grow we will be investing in packaging facilities at our larger Abbotsford and Yatala sites. This will result in the phased closure of the Campbelltown cider facility over the next 18 months.
The packaging operation will finish around the middle of 2015, with product to be packaged at our Yatala and Abbotsford breweries from that time. Production will close in early to mid-2016. This announcement impacts 32 people at the site, the first of those people will leave the site in mid-next year.
Our focus now is to support our colleagues across the network that have been directly impacted by these changes. Where possible we will work with them on suitable redeployment opportunities, and ensure they have the right support and advice.
