Black Hops Brewing co-founder Dan Norris has sold his Labrador home

Black Hops Brewing co-founder Dan Norris has been forced to sell his family home as his vicious business hangover continues.

Black Hops Brewing co-founder Dan Norris has been forced to sell his family home as his vicious business hangover continues.

Dubbed “last stop Labrador”, Mr Norris purchased the unrenovated home just 18 months ago but sold it Monday night for a “bargain” $980,000 in an attempt to settle his debts and “move forward with his life”.

The former co-owner of Black Hops, the beer dynasty he built with his best friends before it fell flat, said it was devastating to lose the house his children loved, with his seven-year-old daughter trying to remove the real estate sign to stop the sale.

It’s now the second house he has lost under the black cloud of Black Hops, with his $3.1 million Mermaid Beach dream home sold after he left behind both the brewing company and his $10m worth of shares.

Dan Norris founded one of the Gold Coast's best-known beer brands at his former Labrador home. Pic Annette Dew

“It’s pretty devastating,” said Mr Norris, who owns specialty coffee roaster and cafe supplier East Coast Roast.

“I don’t see how I’ll be able to be a homeowner again, we’ll be stuck renting forever.

“I’m now 45 and as a scrappy business owner of almost 20 years, I have almost no superannuation.

“It’s not the money that worries me, it’s losing the security of having a stable home for my kids.”

Mr Norris left Black Hops in early 2023, saying “the writing was on the wall” for its financial failure by the end of 2022, with the urgent action he recommended to save it ignored.

The Gold Coast and the craft beer industry was rocked when Black Hops Brewing was placed into voluntary administration in March 2024. The business was later liquidated after administrators found it owed more than $7.3 million.

It was an incredible drop from the $65 million the company was said to be worth after a record-breaking crowd-funding campaign in 2022.

Dan Norris inside his former Labrador home. Picture: Annette Dew.

Late last year a consortium of shareholders and investors bought the assets and brand for $3.2 million, with new CEO Nick Boots saying today’s Black Hops Brewing was a different entity, although one original co-founder, Eddie Oldfield, remained with the brand.

The sale price was accepted by secured lender Judo Bank, despite it being less than half what was owed to creditors. The bank agreed to halve its loan, but that left Mr Norris and Mr Oldfield on the hook as guarantors.

And in January this year, the creditors came calling. It was Mr Norris’s worst nightmare come true, although he said he did all he could to prevent it.

“When I left, I agreed to the bank’s request that I sell all my shares for $1 and I would then be removed as guarantor for the loan we had taken out,” he said.

“I was concerned the company was going to collapse and that I would be the one losing everything – which was exactly what happened.

“I was the majority shareholder, the most recent round we did had valued my shares at $10 million or something, so it was a big thing for me to give back all of my shares in my own company.

Dan Norris has sold his Labrador home. Picture: Annette Dew.

Dan Norris said he was ‘devastated’ after being forced to sell his family home in Labrador. Picture: Annette Dew.

“They dragged it out for about a year, then they put the company into administration … and then three years later they rock up at my house coming after me for $2 million.”

Mr Norris said he was forced to sell after Judo Bank placed a caveat on his property, meaning he was unable to arrange a loan to pay back another debtor.

He said he hoped the sale would allow him to pay back what he could without having to declare bankruptcy.

“I’m hoping the bank will sit down with me and we can work out a plan rather than forcing me to declare bankruptcy, that would not be the best financial decision for anyone,” he said.

“If we can make a deal quickly it might give me a chance to start again and provide some security for my family. My kids have had to move so many times, I’m just heartbroken for them. My daughter tried to take the ‘for sale’ sign out of the yard because she doesn’t want to leave.

“We’re lucky we have each other and our health, but it’s been a pretty dark time.”

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Originally published as Black Hops Brewing co-founder Dan Norris has sold his Labrador home