Lion Australia MD James Brindley made the tough call last week to close Malt Shovel Brewery.

Brindley only returned as head of Lion Australia in late April and Malt Shovel is a project that is close to his heart. He spent most of his first 27-year stint with the company working alongside the founder of Malt Shovel, Chuck Hahn.

Brindley said staff had been informed of the “difficult decision” to close at the end of August, due to overall beer volumes declining in Australia by 100 million litres since 2019.

“There have also been ongoing cost-of-living pressures reducing discretionary spending, and continuing increases in costs like energy, labour and ingredients, as well as government excise, which is now the third-highest in the world,” he said.

Brindley noted that Malt Shovel had played a pivotal role in pioneering the craft beer movement in Australia – introducing consumers to a diverse range of beer styles, including pale ales, porters and stouts.

“Lion has a diverse network of breweries, including our Fermentum breweries in the Northern Rivers, and Little Creatures Breweries in Geelong and Fremantle, which will remain our craft centres of excellence into the future,” he said.   

Malt Shovel Brewery was launched by Chuck Hahn (pictured above with Brindley) after his eponymous brewery, Hahn Brewing, was bought by Lion Nathan in early 1993.

In late 1998 moves were underway to close the brewery during a cost-cutting drive across the company, as most of the larger volumes of Hahn were being produced at Tooheys.

“I felt the need to maintain this small craft brewery and I felt there was a niche for a distinctive English-style brown ale in Sydney,” Hahn recalled in 2021, during his speech at a celebration for his 50th year in brewing that was attended by luminaries including soon-to-be Prime Minister Anthony Alhanese.

“I produced a business plan for the rebirthed ‘CAMPERDOWN COLONIAL BREWERY’ and presented it to Gordon Cairns, the Lion CEO, at the time. He gave permission for this independent venture.

“We set up to operate initially as a separate company, and we soon discovered the James Squire story as Australia’s first brewer coming across on the First Fleet as a convict in 1788. I contacted Jim Donohoe, one of Squires direct descendants
and a spokesman for the group, in order to get approvals from the family to brew a beer in his honour.

“In 1999, we renamed the Hahn Brewery the Malt Shovel Brewery after James Squire’s first brewery.” 

Ironically, it was just a few weeks ago that Hahn opened a new independent brewery with his son, just a few suburbs from Camperdown-based Malt Shovel in Sydney’s St Peters.

Chuck & Son’s Brewing Company’s brewpub is located in a warehouse featuring solid brass railings from the old Resch’s brewery that Hahn used on a staircase at Hahn Brewing then salvaged after they were replaced by Lion.

Hahn’s son Scott acknowledged to The Crafty Pint that it was a tough period to be opening a brewery in Australia.

“It is a rocky time,” he said. “We did focus on investing in a strong taproom offering to really lean into the challenges we could control.”

Head brewer pays tribute to Chuck

Malt Shovel head brewer Alli Macdonald said in a statement that the brewery left an incredible history and lineage of beers and brewers.

“A unique practice we’ve maintained at Malt Shovel is an Honour Roll of all the brewers who have worked here from the beginning,” Macdonald said. 

“Our brewers have always been front and centre of this brewery. 

“Chuck Hahn was brewer #1, I’m privileged to have been #59 and in total, we’ve had some 65 brewers who have worked here – many of whom have gone on to do wonderful things both in Lion and the wider industry.”