Asahi and nine other breweries owed money by collapsed equipment supplier Core Brewing Concepts will hold a fundraiser on Saturday May 2, as embattled founder Micah Rees answers questions about his company’s demise.

Rees agreed to an interview on Radio Brews News this week after news broke that his company had collapsed, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits paid by breweries for equipment they never received.

Inthe 50-minute interview Rees admits he found himself seriously out of his depth when his business rapidly evolved from selling home brewing supplies out of his garage, to facing cash flow issues associated with dealing in complete commercial brewing systems for multiple clients.

“We were handling doing that one at a time, no problem. But when it started becoming three at a time, then it started to become a problem,” he said.

“When a business grows too big, too quick, it doesn’t have the manpower to support the demand, and everything then just begins to snowball… That’s a large part of what happened to us.”

Episode 51 of Radio Brews News is available here.

Temple Brewing to host fundraiser

Affected breweries from Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and Victoria will join forces at Temple Brewing, in East Brunswick, Melbourne on Saturday May 2 to create a collaboration brew.

The brew day is open to the public and will see the brewers create an “Eastern Coast IPA” which they will then sell on to raise funds to help cover their losses.

Breweries and businesses in attendance on the day include:

Temple, Melbourne
The Winston, Hobart
Rutherglen Brewery, Rutherglen
Shark Island, Sydney
Barrier Reef Brewery, Cairns
Rogue Wave Brewery, Surf Coast
Boneyard Brewing, Melbourne
Bruny Island Brewery, Tasmania
Bale-Worker Project Brewery, Melbourne
White Lies Brewing, Brisbane
Asahi, Laverton

“The brewery will be open to all on the day, so join the beer community as they rally to make something good of a bad situation,” said Rutherglen Brewery’s Fiona Myers.

Myers said that to her knowledge Rutherglen is the only company to have had its deposit refunded by Core Brewing Concepts. “The rest of the group are still fighting for their money back.”

Doors open to the public from 12pm with a spit roast in the beer garden and beer specials throughout the day. For further information ring Fiona Myers on 0400 832 061.

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