# Redhill Brewery (vic) To Close Bar And Cellar Door



## Wolfy (21/6/12)

Quote from an email just sent to RedHill's mailing list:

"_It is with very mixed emotions that Karen and Dave Golding have decided to close the bar and cellar door of the brewery.

A New Direction We plan to consolidate our energy into our brewing business, and focus on producing more great beer than ever with new styles in the pipeline, new packaging and more places than ever to be able to buy our beer.
...
LAST WEEKEND IS SAT 21st / SUN 22nd JULY SECRET STASH WEEKEND._"

A visit to their brewery has always made going down the Peninsula (usually for markets/shopping for SWMBO) a much more enjoyable experience, so it's a shame that they're going to close. As far as I'm aware they were one of the first micro's to open their doors and serve food/beer at their venue as well as giving tours of the brewery etc.

Interesting to note is that I was recently told that the growing trend in the industry is to have a bar-door and venue where people can come eat/drink, and one of the reasons for the changes at 3 Ravens is that they are seeking a new location where they can do just that.


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## Truman42 (21/6/12)

I just received that email too, Thats a real shame and quite a surprise as they were always very very busy on the weekend. Was a great place to go and enjoy a nice sunny Sunday afternoon.

Its just a pity they cant keep running the bar whilst expanding the brewing side of things.

Only place left to go down that way now is Hickinbotham.


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## jayahhdee (21/6/12)

Very sad news, I've spent many lovely weekends down there.

Fortunatley for me, I have a lunch booking with my family there in 2 weeks for my birthday celebrations, so I get to enjoy it one last time.


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## DU99 (21/6/12)

Found this on Gumtree


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## GalBrew (21/6/12)

Truman said:


> I just received that email too, Thats a real shame and quite a surprise as they were always very very busy on the weekend. Was a great place to go and enjoy a nice sunny Sunday afternoon.
> 
> Its just a pity they cant keep running the bar whilst expanding the brewing side of things.
> 
> Only place left to go down that way now is Hickinbotham.



There is also the Mornington Peninsula Brewery in Mornington.

It is a shame, people like to have a place where they can connect with a product that has provenance. I think a cellar door is a great way of engaging customers. I'm not sure drinking a beer from Red Hill will be the same knowing I can't actually drink one in Red Hill. Not to say they don't make great beer, but there is nothing like having one or two with a ploughman's lunch at the brewery.


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## /// (21/6/12)

We run both, definately hard work having both, but we would not change it for the world ...


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## Truman42 (21/6/12)

AdamFromWH said:


> There is also the Mornington Peninsula Brewery in Mornington.
> 
> It is a shame, people like to have a place where they can connect with a product that has provenance. I think a cellar door is a great way of engaging customers. I'm not sure drinking a beer from Red Hill will be the same knowing I can't actually drink one in Red Hill. Not to say they don't make great beer, but there is nothing like having one or two with a ploughman's lunch at the brewery.




+1 Their ploghmans lunch is awesome. The wife and I often called in on a Sunday arvo and enjoyed a few beers and a ploughmans lunch.

I know theres MPB but its in an industrial area of Mornington and while their beers are great they dont have that rural countryside charm that RHB do.
When my folks were down here at xmas time from Cairns we did the whole winery, beer, cheese, and chocolate thing with them down around Red Hill and hastings and they loved the whole area. Wont be the same without RHB, just wine cheese and chocolate..


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## seemax (21/6/12)

Selling beer on tap... with food... isn't that where the money is?


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## brettprevans (21/6/12)

Seems like a big mistake to me. I recon it's NE of 3ravens problems as it didn't have that 'face'. But comp is tough ATM and if they r struggling then they are prob thinking it will save money. Big mistake. Marketing 101 when sakes are down u don't cut down on marketing u increase it. Having the bar etc is a form of marketing.

Best of luck to them


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## Wolfy (21/6/12)

Truman said:


> Wont be the same without RHB, just wine cheese and chocolate..


And strawberrys!


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## DU99 (21/6/12)

Lion Nathan might have taken them over B)


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## bum (21/6/12)

citymorgue2 said:


> I recon it's NE of 3ravens problems as it didn't have that 'face'.


But 3Ravens doesn't have their foot in Uncle Dan's door like Red Hill do.


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## fikuss (22/6/12)

Yeah I'm spewing about this. We have a place a couple of Ks down the road and we often pop in for a cheeky pint or two and a snack. Really going to miss it as a place to drop in on the weekend.


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## Fents (22/6/12)

citymorgue2 said:


> Seems like a big mistake to me. I recon it's NE of 3ravens problems as it didn't have that 'face'. But comp is tough ATM and if they r struggling then they are prob thinking it will save money. Big mistake. Marketing 101 when sakes are down u don't cut down on marketing u increase it. Having the bar etc is a form of marketing.
> 
> Best of luck to them



imo sometimes to go bigger you have to sacrifice. closing the restraunt means they can fit more tanks in and grow as a brewery. at the moment they are in a stale mate, restraunat only holds so many people and the brewery is only so big and you cant expand one without the sacrifice of the other. tough decision but i think it will pay off for them.


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## Phoney (22/6/12)

Hopefully they'll now start selling their beer north of Wodonga.


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## Truman42 (22/6/12)

Fents said:


> imo sometimes to go bigger you have to sacrifice. closing the restraunt means they can fit more tanks in and grow as a brewery. at the moment they are in a stale mate, restraunat only holds so many people and the brewery is only so big and you cant expand one without the sacrifice of the other. tough decision but i think it will pay off for them.



Its going to cost them a lot of money to knock down the restuarant to expand the brewery. The current brewery is just a small shed and the restuarant is an old house type structure with a verandah added.Not suitable to expand the brewery into it. They would have been better off building onto some of their hop fields. Who knows what theyre planning?


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## Spiesy (22/6/12)

Fents said:


> imo sometimes to go bigger you have to sacrifice. closing the restraunt means they can fit more tanks in and grow as a brewery. at the moment they are in a stale mate, restraunat only holds so many people and the brewery is only so big and you cant expand one without the sacrifice of the other. tough decision but i think it will pay off for them.


is there the ability to simply renovate and expand the brewery with an additional building, without having to close down the bar/restaurant? Sounds like it's a popular place... I'll have to try to get down there before it shuts up shop, have not been there before.


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## bum (22/6/12)

It may not even be a real-estate issue. Take the time from managing a secondary service and re-direct it towards the primary business fucntions. Take the costs of running the secondary service and channel them towards developing the primary business. They may not even touch the restaurant area - leaving it for possible future re-opening. They may just let hops grow all over it, who knows?

A lot of assumptions are being made here, is what I'm saying.


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## DU99 (22/6/12)

This is what's posted on their website


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## Truman42 (22/6/12)

I asked David to eloborate on what their future plans are. 

Hes going to post an update.


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## fawnroux (22/6/12)

phoneyhuh said:


> Hopefully they'll now start selling their beer north of Wodonga.


I'll be happy if the sell their beer IN Wodonga.


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## fawnroux (22/6/12)

The bar and restaurant may not have even been making money, and even if it was, the opportunity cost of spending time and money on it rather than growing the core beer business may have been too great. 

It's quite a nice place down there, and as someone said, maybe they will open up again in the future. Good luck to them, I can't wait to see their beers in more places around the country.


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## RedHillBrewers (22/6/12)

Hi All, Karen & Dave here. 
Yep, sad but true. Due to planning limitation and green wedge zoning, there are no pemittable expansions on this site. It is not possible to make more parking, more buildings or more patrons. So we are right now as big as we can ever be. 

However running both parts of the business requires wearing a lot of different hats in a day, and not always doing the best we can at either. By closing the bar, we can add extra tanks into the coolroom areas and use our new Maheen bottling line to put out more beer, more consistent beer, and hopefully more styles than ever. And our workload actually decreases!

On the personal side, we have a young family and the cafe operations is only a metre from our house, so having staff and customers here all day, every day in our home is quite restrictive on our privacy and our ability to do stuff around our home and with our kids.
We have been seeking alternative options, and still have a few ideas about other venues or partnerships with local businesses. But for now, we need to get our privacy back, get brewing, and think about what the future holds with a clear head.

We have new styles, new packaging.... maybe even t-shirts coming, so as far as beer goes, the future looks awesome to us! But it is a loss for us to not have amazing beer people around that love what you do.

We hope everyone will keep drinking Red Hill and stay in touch via our newsletter, we do plan to have many special events and perhaps open a few days over summer and for things like Secret Stash weekends, Good Beer Week, maybe even Fathers Day and things like that. 

Thanks for caring, Karen & Dave Golding


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## chunckious (22/6/12)

Been to many a crafty pub and never seen their beers anywhere up here in Brissy. :unsure:


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## fawnroux (22/6/12)

Good luck with all guys! Family is very important. 

Don't worry, if you keep brewing great beer, we'll keep drinking it


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## fawnroux (22/6/12)

Chunkious said:


> Been to many a crafty pub and never seen their beers anywhere up here in Brissy. :unsure:


Best get onto management of those places and see what they can arrange then


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## Phoney (22/6/12)

RedHillBrewers said:


> We hope everyone will keep drinking Red Hill



I drink Red Hill when I'm Victoria, though I cant find it anywhere in NSW either.

Will this be addressed?


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## Truman42 (22/6/12)

Thanks for keeping us informed Dave. Good luck with it all and I look forward to your future brews.


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## fikuss (30/6/12)

RedHillBrewers said:


> Hi All, Karen & Dave here.
> Yep, sad but true. Due to planning limitation and green wedge zoning, there are no pemittable expansions on this site. It is not possible to make more parking, more buildings or more patrons. So we are right now as big as we can ever be.
> 
> However running both parts of the business requires wearing a lot of different hats in a day, and not always doing the best we can at either. By closing the bar, we can add extra tanks into the coolroom areas and use our new Maheen bottling line to put out more beer, more consistent beer, and hopefully more styles than ever. And our workload actually decreases!
> ...



Well said.

Looking forward to tasting the stash!


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## Truman42 (20/7/12)

Last chance this weekend gents to get down to Red Hill Brewery before they close the bar and cafe. 

Im going Saturday with the missus and bro in law and wife. Looking forward to it, especially as the sis in law is driving. :drinks: :icon_cheers: 







> SECRET STASH WEEKEND | WEIZENBOCK RELEASED | LAST WEEKEND TO VISIT THE CAFE
> 
> 
> SECRET STASH ~ Saturday 21st / Sunday 22nd of July, 11am to 6pm
> ...


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## Fents (20/7/12)

i'll be there as well for lunch sat. going to smash plenty of red hill beers.


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## Truman42 (22/7/12)

A great day at Red Hill yesterday. Plenty of great beers and we really enjoyed the food. Here are some pics I took.

David Golding pouring a beer.






Sample Paddle




Imperial Stout




Taps




Brew Kettle


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