Steve Germain (Moose) and Dan Hall (Tallboy)

Melbourne’s Tallboy and Moose Brewery has announced the departure of Steve Germain from the business, with his co-founder Daniel Hall taking over the business as sole director.

In a statement, the company said that Steve has been an integral part of the brewery’s journey.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to him and wish him all the best for his future endeavors,” the statement read.

Speaking with Brews News, Dan Hall – the tall boy of the brewery’s name – said that in a challenging market, the pair had been through a period of being undecided about how the future of the business should unfold.

“And we explored all the options that were in front of us how we should make a change,” he said.

“And the end result was Steve made the decision that he wanted to move on. And so he gave me the option of buying him out and me continuing on my own.”

“That, obviously, was something that I had to be pretty careful about as we’re in turbulent times,” Hall said

“It’s a tough market. The industry is definitely being tested to its breaking point.”

Hall said that after some soul-searching, he realised he wasn’t ready to walk away.

“It’s what I wanted to do, this is something that I’ve always wanted to do. This was my dream, this is my passion,” he said.

“And so in terms of moving forward, I wasn’t ready to walk away.”

He said that despite the present challenges, he saw a good future in the business.

“We’re not here to make millions because that’s not what beer and craft beer is all about. Right?”

“We do it because we love it. And we want to keep that going.

“The brewpub here is certainly something which I think our local community really value. And I don’t want to deny them that.

“We want to represent a place that people want to go to represents good value for money and that they can you know, use the few spare dollars that anyone has to come and enjoy themselves here and enjoy our products.”

When Adelaide’s Little Bang Brewery sold last year, co-owner Ryan Davidson discussed the challenges that he and his business partner had in valuing the business between the two of them.

Hall agreed, saying that coming to an agreement with his business partner was the hardest thing.

“There’s a long history involved in getting to this point. How we got there is discussing our various options: whether to sell, who to sell to, in what way and using our best guesses.”

“We talked to our own business accountant, personal accountants, lawyers, all of those people to try and get to a point where we were satisfied and comfortable that the valuation was about as accurate and reflective of the current circumstances that we’re in.

“And that’s no small task, it takes a long time to do those things, particularly with an ever-evolving market.”

“Beyond that, I’m afraid to say, you can put as many metrics on, multipliers of profitability minus expenses and depreciation and add-backs, and all those kinds of things. But ultimately, a business is only worth what someone is willing to pay.

“We went through all have those hoops and we got to a point where we were both satisfied that we were at a value that was fair and reflective of where the market is at this point in time. And it allowed us to move forward.”

Germain told Brews News that he was happy with the result, but wasn’t sure what was next for him.

“I’ve been working in the brewing industry for 15 years, so it would be very easy for me to stay,” he said.

“However, I also want to take this time and opportunity to be open-minded. And, you know, first of all, I’m going to have a short break.”

After that, he was going to take stock.

“You know, I haven’t touched my CV and over ten years,” he laughed.

“So I don’t know, and I’m in a completely different place in my life from where I was at the last time I was unemployed, which is when I arrived in Australia in 2012.

“Let’s just just say, I do not have a brewery that I’m launching or another project like that.

“I’ve got a lot of ideas. And I’m just gonna kind of see how it goes for a bit.”

Hall and Germain founded Tallboy & Moose after meeting at Moon Dog in 2012. Working in and around the craft brewing industry, and experimenting in a nanobrewery, the pair opened Tallboy & Moose in Preston in 2016.

The company said that the transition won’t affect the quality and creativity you’ve come to expect from Tallboy and Moose, which will continue under that name.

“With Dan at the helm, we want to assure our customers, partners and friends that we remain fully committed to brewing bloody good beers under the ‘Tallboy and Moose’ brand and that our Preston brewpub will stay the place where we share our love for great brews and food with our community.”