“For many Australians the idea of running their own successful brewing business is a dream, but for Scott Garnett, Managing Director of Barons Brewing Company, it is a reality.”
“Together with university mate Richard Adamson they have managed to make a major impact in the intensely competitive Australian and international beer markets. They are now Australia’s largest independent craft brewing company, have major export deals with distributors in the US and Russia and a number of awards to boot. All this in just three years.”
The origins of the company can be traced back to the early nineties.
Having joined forces to create a home-brewery in their lounge room, Adamson and Garnett “experimented” with a range of different ingredients and threw backyard beer parties for some of their best mates. 1997 saw their first beer festival, with around 100 gathering to sample a range of home brews. As the years went by the numbers swelled and 2003 marked the true beginning. A few hundred were in attendance to sample five styles out of 20 kegs and, by this stage, praise for their creations had gone beyond mere approval from close friends – it was that good that if available commercially those in attendance would buy it.
Having carved out a name for themselves in their local area they sought to discover if their creations could take them to the rest of Australia. “Initially, it was just seeing what was possible,” Mr Garnett told Australian Food News. And, after looking into the craft brewing industry and finding “clear room for a Sydney-based craft brewer,” they decided to give it a shot.
Garnett, whose corporate finance and commercial expertise saw him assume the role of Managing Director – or Boss Baron, and Adamson, who, as a graduate from Australia’s only school of brewing, Ballarat University, took on the role of Brewing Baron, launched their first batch in December 2005. They then nominated their first commercial beer, Black Wattle Original Ale, for the prestigious Australian International Beer Awards (in 2006) – the second largest beer competition of its type in the world. Even at that stage they were still testing the waters, but realised that, even if things didn’t go to plan, all was not lost. “Worst case scenario we get left with a truckload of beer we can’t sell,” Mr Garnett mused.
The road, like any small business, has been bumpy at times, however. The capital-intensive nature of the industry and the strong competition has ensured triumphs haven’t come easily. And, like others in the beer industry, they are at the mercy of the climate when it comes to strong sales in summer.
This was all short lived as Barons Brewing Trading Company, one company under the Barons Brewing umbrella of companies, applied for voluntary administration in late June 2010
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