Stalwart Brewing Company appoints liquidators after being rocked by the pandemic

After closing its doors for months and having debts to pay, a beloved Sunshine Coast brewery has appointed liquidators to wind up the operation.

A beloved brewery in Nambour has appointed liquidators after it closed its doors early this year, owing creditors about $180,000.

“I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel,” founder and brewer Adam Tomlinson said.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission records state ACN 636 744 271 Pty Ltd – formerly known as Stalwart Brewing Company Pty Ltd – appointed liquidator Jarvis Archer of Revive Financial on June 29, 2022 to wind up the company.

Based on available information, Mr Archer said the former Currie St business owed about $180,000 to creditors such as its landlord, trade creditors and the Australian Taxation Office.

He said the brewery became “unsustainable” from staff issues, closures and Covid-19 restrictions.

After 109 years of history, Nambour's former Club Hotel building started a new chapter as the Stalwart Brewery.

Mr Tomlinson said it took about four months to appoint liquidators since the brewery’s closure in February because the process was “uncharted territory” and he still longed to somehow revive the business.

“You still want to give hope to the company,” he said.

But the brewer – who wished not to comment on debt owed to creditors – said a deciding factor to finally wind up was because of “challenges of keeping my obligations” with the taxation office.

“That was a big consideration in closing,” he said.

Adam Tomlinson in the once-popular Stalwart Ale House and Brewing in Nambour, which suffered through the pandemic. P

The Stalwart Brewing Company, popular for its craft beer, food and live music, swung open its doors at a new entertainment precinct in Nambour on July 18, 2020 to help “put Nambour on the map”.

“That was part of the grand plan,” Mr Tomlinson said.

But he said his business soon hit a rocky road during lockdowns and restrictions, especially when a vaccine mandate was introduced from December 17, 2021 permitting businesses to open their doors only to those fully vaccinated.

Mr Tomlinson – describing this mandate as the “final nail in the coffin” – said it meant customers dropped off at the “busiest time” between Christmas, 2021 and the following New Year’s.

“I lost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue,” he said.

Despite the sad ending, Mr Tomlinson didn’t regret opening his brewery and said he was proud of its “high-standing reputation”.

Asked if the brand could reappear some day, he said it was unlikely in the “foreseeable future” but left room for it.

“I’ll never say never,” he said.