Queensland pub closing because its owners are selling too much beer

OF ALL the reasons to close a pub, selling too much beer should never be one of them. But that’s exactly the case for this pair of Queensland beer lovers who are closing their popular watering hole, much to the disappointment of thirsty regulars.

SLIM Dusty would’ve been stunned to hear about the pub with too much beer and it’s right here on the Coast.

To be more accurate, it’s the pub distracting the owners from selling more beer, with brews being snapped up in droves by thirsty punters, The Sunshine Coast Daily reports.

Popular Nambour dive bar The Basement is closing its doors at the end of the month, as owners Christen McGarry and Matt Hepburn shift focus to their booming Your Mates Brewing Co.

It’s a bitter blow to bar flies of Nambour who found solace in the raw, warm atmosphere of The Basement.

But it’s a testament to the strength of quality of the beers the two old friends are producing.

“We’re just selling too much beer at the moment,” Mr McGarry said.

He said they were unable to give The Basement the attention it deserved, and sadly the time had come for him, Matt and their crew of casual staff to bid a fond farewell to the venue with very mixed emotions.

Five years ago, mates Matt Hepburn and Christen McGarry quit their day jobs to peruse their entrepreneurial dreams of one day owning a craft beer brewery, and have recently launched their tinny version of their Your Mates Brewing Co. craft beer - Larrycans.

“The Basement’s been an awesome little space,” Mr McGarry said.

Mr McGarry said they’d used The Basement as their front of house, a tap room of sorts, to sell the beers they have been producing via contract brewing at a brewery in Maleny.

They have a wholesale space in Caloundra’s Moffat Beach industrial area which they have started opening to the public on a Friday and Saturday.

Mr McGarry said they were brewing almost 100,000 litres of beer a year and were now looking for investment to establish their own brewery on the coastal strip.

Their flagship beer, ‘Larry’, accounts for about 99 per cent of their sales.

“He has just taken on a life of his own... everyone loves Larry,” Mr McGarry said.

Easter weekend will be the final weekend the boys have The Basement open and they will have a final trivia night on the Thursday before Good Friday.

On Sunday there will be live bands to woo the crowds and send off the bar in style.

“We really want to make everyone gets one last hurrah in,” Mr McGarry said.