Australia: Asahi to close Green Beacon brewery in north Brisbane

Asahi Beverages has announced it’s closing Green Beacon’s production brewery in north Brisbane in approximately 10 weeks, the Beer and Brewer reported on March 29.

As part of its decision, Asahi said Green Beacon’s Teneriffe brewpub will get added brewing capacity while the lion’s share of production will be transferred to other Asahi-owned Australian breweries, including Pirate Life in Port Adelaide and 4 Pines in Brookvale – where Wayfarer kegs are already produced. Asahi said these other sites have the capability to manage Green Beacon’s continued growth. The closure of the Geebung production brewery will result in the loss of three full-time and two casual positions. The remaining Geebung employees will transfer to the Teneriffe brewpub.

Asahi purchased the Brisbane brewery in 2019, which is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. It was recently announced that Green Beacon’s former head brewer Johann van der Walt had moved to Boxer Brewing after almost a decade at the brewery.

Asahi said in a statement the decision to close the production brewery “follows several years of strong growth for Green Beacon and is part of a plan to ensure it continues its strong trajectory by increasing brewing capacity across multiple sites”.

Green Beacon general manager Richard Shrosbery said: “Geebung has been our home for more than six years and has driven much of our recent success.

“However, we are experiencing significant growth and have now outgrown the site. Today’s announcement means Green Beacon can continue its growth trajectory by unlocking capacity constraints, which will help ensure we continue to get it to lovers of Green Beacon everywhere.

“We will still have a strong presence in Brisbane with the upgraded Green Beacon brewpub in Teneriffe. And, under the watchful supervision of our chief brewer, all Green Beacon beers will retain their distinct and award-winning flavours.

“The team at Geebung have been tremendous and I am very proud of the contribution they’ve made to Green Beacon’s success.”

Asahi said it will provide career transition to employees who are impacted by redundancy. A process is also underway to identify if there are suitable alternative roles within Asahi Beverages.

31 March, 2023