Lion today announced that it will not be renewing the lease for its Little Creatures Dining Hall in Fitzroy, Victoria. The company will instead focus on the development of its Little Creatures Brewery Village and new White Rabbit Brewery in Geelong.

The dining hall will remain open for the rest of this year and over summer before officially closing its doors on Monday 1 February 2016.

Lion Craft Director Gordon Treanor said the decision came following a comprehensive review of Little Creatures’ national marketing and hospitality strategy.

“Little Creatures is a brewer first and foremost. Whilst the Little Creatures Dining Hall has without a doubt contributed to the brand’s growth in Victoria since it opened eight years ago, we believe venues attached to our breweries have the most promise for future growth, as we have seen at our iconic Fremantle venue in Perth, which now welcomes more than one million visitors a year.

“As one of the best-selling craft beers in Australia, Little Creatures has a very bright future ahead of it and we are thrilled to continue building the brand along the Eastern Seaboard from our new home base in Geelong.

“The Geelong Brewery Village is more than a Brewery – visitors can enjoy a meal with family and friends, pop-up entertainment on the weekends, and visiting the markets full of local, Victorian produce on the second Sunday of every month. And there’s more to come, with our new White Rabbit Brewery and Barrel Hall expected to open on the same site in time for summer.”

Lion’s new White Rabbit Brewery will see the development of a range of beers using old world brewing techniques blended with new world thinking. With 300 oak barrels, the team will be barrel fermenting, souring and developing beer styles, using a range of new and old wine and spirit barrels – something not yet seen on a large commercial scale in Australia.