Sunshine Coast craft beer firm Blackflag Brewing to go nationwide with new venue

A Sunshine Coast brewery planning to open itself up to community investment is about to launch its major new facility enabling it to brew up to seven million litres a year.

A popular Sunshine Coast beer company is preparing to open a massive new brewery venue next month lifting its production capacity up to seven million litres a year.

Blackflag Brewing launched in late-2019 in a tucked away bar in Mooloolaba.

Now the business, co-owned by six men, is opening a 2500sq m brewhouse at an industrial area in Coolum Beach mid-next month, featuring a tasting room, canning line, cold room, and the ability to hold up to 40 brewery tanks.

The upcoming venue will also feature a 20m-long mural in its tasting room, designed and spray painted by co-owner and artist Ross Holloway.

The Blackflag Brewing. Pictured, (back) Michael "fish" Holden, Billy Taylor, Ryan Goodie, and Ben Baker. Front, Ross Holloway and Steve Barber. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Blackflag Brewing co-owner Steve Barber said the upcoming venue would increase their annual production capacity from about 400,000 litres to between 5-7 million litres.

“This has been a massive step for us, getting into the production end,” he said.

The beer company currently distributed its cans across the state, but Mr Barber said this upcoming boost in production would allow his company to crack the national market via Coles, Woolworths and other retailers.

Mr Barber said he had planned to open a brewery for about two years, after his team’s fun brand and community approach had proved overwhelmingly successful shortly after first launching.

“We kept running out of beer,” he said.

Mr Barber said his team picked the new location because it was in a central area on the Coast and the team had earmarked the Coolum Beach industrial park as a preferred site.

While the new venue was at the forefront, Mr Barber said he was equally excited about launching an equity crowd-funding campaign once the venue opened.

He said he looked forward to allowing the community to take part in their business, given the support they’d shown to-date and the community that had grown from their launch.

“That’s where we’re really getting excited,” he said.

It comes just months after Sunshine Coast craft beer brewers left their mark on the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular awards after nine beers from six local breweries were named in the top 100.

More than 40,000 votes were cast as part of the annual ballot.