Craft brewing’s initial decades were defined by a sense of optimistic rebellion. Big Beer had conditioned the nation’s drinkers to accept bland, mediocre brews – and the thinking was that the upstarts were going to fix the situation with Real Beer.
Then came the buyouts. Little Creatures (2012), Mountain Goat (2016), Four Pines (2017), Pirate Life (2017), Balter (2019), Green Beacon (2019), Stone & Wood, Fixation and Two Birds (2019). One by one, some of the most beloved indie breweries in Australian history chucked it in to be absorbed by multinational giants Asahi, Kirin and Ab Inbev, or their subsidiaries, CUB and Lion. (Matilda Bay, Australia’s first craft brewery, was ahead of the game when it was acquired in 1990.) It’s a trend that precisely mirrors the situation in the US, the cradle of craft beer.
But as we’ve also seen in the US, there’s a middle ground emerging. Indie breweries get big enough to float and become corporates themselves (a potential future for Moon Dog). Other breweries merge to punch above their separate weights (WA’s Nail, Beer Farm and Feral). And cashed-up private investors found, or buy, multiple brands to create a powerful portfolio (the failed Mighty Craft).
Today’s news sits right in that middle ground. NSW’s Mountain Culture has acquired fellow indie brewery Fox Friday, which was in voluntary administration. It’s one of the most significant moments in craft history, even against the backdrop of all the buyouts listed above.
Mountain Culture, founded in Katoomba by married couple Harriet and DJ McCready, is only six years old. With its knack for trendy hazy IPAs, it’s had a meteoric rise rivalled only by Balter’s. For the past three years running its Status Quo Pale Ale has topped the rankings of the Gabs Hottest 100, craft beer’s take on Triple J’s annual countdown of the same name. In addition to Katoomba, it’s opened taprooms in Emu Plains and Redfern.
“We’re so excited. We really respect Fox Friday not just for their awesome beer, but the local communities they have built,” the McCreadys wrote in a statement issued to Broadsheet. “This is a chance to not just continue the amazing growth of our brand and connect in a really authentic way with those new communities, but also to do what’s right for them and the craft industry as a whole.”
While the nine-year-old Fox Friday is slightly more under the radar, it’s garnered plenty of acclaim for its hazy IPA and hazy pale. Backed by failed investment firm Falcon Capital and managed investment scheme First Guardian Master Fund, it also expanded rapidly in recent years, buying Melbourne bottle shop Carwyn Cellars and opening taprooms in Melbourne and Perth. Mountain Culture will inherit all this, plus Fox Friday’s Hobart taproom and Moonah Hotel & Cellars, also in Hobart. That makes it not only one of the most hyped breweries in the country, but one of the most sizeable too.
