Sunshine Coast brewery Your Mates Brewing to boost production with new $8m facility

A much loved Sunshine Coast brewery is about to fast-track its expansion plans with a massive new facility next door to scale up production.

A beloved Sunshine Coast beer company is launching a multimillion-dollar brewery allowing it to brew up to six times as much beer each year.

“It’s the next stage in the saga,” Your Mates Brewing co-founder Matt Hepburn said.

Your Mates Brewing at 41 Technology Drive, Warana, is preparing to open and run a new production facility next door to its existing bar and brewery in mid-September.

Mr Hepburn, 32, said the new brewery could boost its production from 800,000 to 4-5 million litres of beer each year.

He said the project would cost $8m in the next five years after an initial $3.5m investment.

He said he longed to open a new production facility and was “super fortunate” to land an initial nine-year lease at 43 Technology Drive.

Matt Hepburn, co-owner of Your Mates Brewing. Photo: Patrick Woods.

Mr Hepburn, alongside co-founder and mate Christen McGarry, said this move was part of “pretty aggressive” growth after they unexpectedly boomed in popularity since first pouring beer for punters in 2015.

“It’s blown our expectations out of the water,” he said.

Mr Hepburn said their first brewery was like a “big shed” but soon felt tiny after rapidly expanding.

Matt Hepburn, co-owner of Your Mates Brewing. Photo: Patrick Woods.

Mr Hepburn, who was proud to be eyeing expansion following the pandemic, said the new site would allow him to create new beers and break into more stores and states across the country.

He said his existing bar will also become more spacious and be able to host bigger events given he would be removing his old, existing canning line from the location and replacing it with a new, bigger one next door.

“More breathing room for customers,” he said.

Your Mates Brewing’s new production facility. Photo: Patrick Woods.

Mr Hepburn, who sacrificed many weekends in his 20s to launch this business, said his team wasn’t “growing for the sake of growing” but to nurture and establish his homegrown brand on the Sunshine Coast.

“This is our home forever,” he said.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast brewery Your Mates Brewing to boost production with new $8m facility