King River Brewing enters new era

The announcement follows a challenging few months for the brewery founded by Nathan Munt, who announced the closure of King River Brewing’s taproom in Whitfield, Victoria in July and shortly after entered liquidation in early September.

Sparing no time, just over two weeks since the liquidators were appointed, Branagan bought the existing King River Brewing brand, equipment and stock.

“Buying the brand was an option when the liquidation was forced and I’d been working with some private equity to help us fund it. That came through and we offered what we thought was the right amount for something that will be incredibly costly to relocate. And it was accepted.

“We were as blown away about how quick this was as everybody else. And to be fair, we are still only partly funded on a loan basis and will most likely be seeking more equity as we build out the venue,” he told Beer & Brewer.

Branagan first joined the King River Brewing team four years ago, after several years in corporate sales. Since then, his passion for the industry has grown and led him to taking a brave step in leading the brewery’s next phase.

Despite his position as majority shareholder, Branagan will continue his role as Sales Manager while overseeing the entire business.

“It’s a massive step up but a challenge I’m really excited about and I have Nathan’s ear whenever I need it,” he said.

Under the new company he is also joined by three of his colleagues from King River Brewing as shareholders: Munt (10 per cent), brewer Stephen Lloyd (10 per cent) and Amanda Ashton (20 per cent).

“Everybody’s role will be a little different in that we all need to pull more of the ship along,” explained Branagan.

“Stephen is looking at picking up some sales, as well as running brewery operations. While Amanda has a creative expansion in both sales, brand and venue vision. Then it’s all the little parts that make a brewery business operate, which is vast and many will be shared among us.”

In terms of what fans can expect from the renewed brand, Munt said the ethos of creating delicious European-influenced beers people want to drink, time and time again will remain the same.

“I’m happy to say my original vision will continue and the whole team has adopted it. I’ll always be available for a chat and what I think about it, but the most incredible thing is to see this vision as a shared one now and I am absolutely proud and can’t wait to see how it unfolds.”

The team have set their sights on finding a new venue and brewing space in the suburb of Myrtleford, around 70km away from its previous home.

“We can’t wait to get rolling and to open a venue that is even more accessible to our customers, fans and the general public. We expect to hit the ground running and bring everyone along for the journey,” said Munt.

The team has also decided on a new name for the brewery, which will be announced in due course.

Munt concluded: “While the name will eventually change, for us it’s about sunsetting the brand gracefully. We love what we’ve done with King River Brewing, and we expect to continue as the brand until the end of summer. We want all of our supporters and loyal advocates to continue the journey with us.”