Award-winning Aussie beer brand Golden West Brewing Co has collapsed and gone into voluntary administration.
The brewer’s entire workforce was let go mid-shift last Wednesday, with administrators only keeping on the brew team to finish processing beer already in tanks to be packaged and sold.
Golden West was originally established in 2021 as Modular Brewing in the Perth suburb of Leederville by a group of five schoolmates.
A source close to the company told Perthnow the cost-of-living crisis and the spate of brewery closures in Sydney and Adelaide contributed to the decision.
It’s been a bleak year for Aussie beer lovers, with major players in the craft scene including Sydney’s Wayward Brewing Company and Melbourne’s Hawkers both going under.
More than a dozen independent breweries across the country have been pushed towards the brink of insolvency in the past 12 months.
Mathieu Tribut, the administrator and director of GTS Advisory, said Golden West had undergone a minor restructuring in 2023 to clear its debts and continue trading.
However, turnover dramatically dropped in January and February after strong trading in the final quarter of 2023.
The drop reportedly prompted Mr Tribut to suspend trading to consider…