Nine years on from announcing themselves to the world with the first of what would be many saisons bearing their name, Exit Brewing have decided to exit the beer industry.
The Melbourne-based operation was founded by mates Craig "Grum" Knight and Fraser Rettie, who first met in Melbourne and were later inspired to start brewing while working in IT in Europe – hence the name ex-IT.
They launched Exit with beers brewed at Cavalier's brewery in Derrimut before moving production to KAIJU! in Dandenong, where Grum was part of the brewing team until the start of the COVID pandemic.
Over the years, the pair amassed friends aplenty throughout the beer community, while their beers claimed notable awards success, including two major trophies at the Australian International Beer Awards for their Amber and Milk Stout.
However, the harsh economic conditions currently facing the beer industry, which come on the back of the challenges of the COVID pandemic, led to the decision to wind up the business. In a statement, Exit said that "having navigated the ups and downs of the last two and a half years, we have come to the realisation that our little brewery is no longer in a position to be competitive or viable in this challenging market."
"We kept looking at it thinking it would get better soon," Grum told The Crafty Pint, "but with the look of the economy going forward, I don't think it's going to get better this year, or probably into next.
"Then you look at the number of new breweries that have opened up and the competition [in the market] – it's not going to get easier."
Exit's decision to call last drinks follows the closure of connected hospo venue, Uitgang Bar in Richmond, last winter, and comes amid a turbulent time for the country's beer industry. A number of breweries and beer venues have been sold or put on the market over the past 12 months – and there are other owners looking for buyers or new investors both publicly and privately.
Several brewing companies have also entered voluntary administration since September last year: Easy Times, Ballistic Beer Co and – just last week – Parched Brewery in Brisbane, plus Tribe Breweries in New South Wales. Ballistic were acquired last month by a consortium led by Catchment Brewing, which also bought Fortitude Brewing and offshoot brand Noisy Minor last June, while the next steps for Tribe are set to be confirmed this week.
Add in recent changes at Newstead Brewing, who moved out of their original Doggett Street brewpub to focus on their Milton brewery venue, Future Mountain's sale of their Reservoir brewpub as they head in a new direction, and the decision by Good Drinks and Stomping Ground to call off the former's proposed acquisition of the latter and it's been an eventful start to 2023. The uncertain situation is reflected in other craft beer industries overseas too, not least the US and UK.
Grum suspects more Australian breweries will decide to cease operating as the industry goes through a period of consolidation on the back of years of rapid growth; as well as fierce competition in the marketplace, he cites factors such as the impact of rising rates on those who've taken on debt to fund expansion, a drop-off in beer sales generally as consumers adjust to tighter budgets, and the time and resources required if brewers want to meet consumers' and retailers' ongoing demand for new releases.
At the same time, he says he knows many owners who are looking forward to a time when the economic situation takes a turn for the better.
"People are struggling, but are hoping," he says. "Things are hard, sales are down, summer has been slow, but they're trying to get through."
And while Grum plans to take a break from beer, he's not discounting a return in the future either.
"I don't think I'd try to set up a commercial brewery again, but at some point I could look at a brewpub if I found the right place and idea for it," he says.
"I've ended up running a business and not brewing. The option to get back and just be a brewer again could be something that comes up and is something I'd consider."
Looking back over the nine years of Exit, something he says hasn't been easy with the decision to wrap up the business so fresh, he says: "It was a good experience and I enjoyed the time. I got to drink a lot of good beer and met a lot of good people along the way."
James Smith launched The Crafty Pint in 2010, two years after moving to Australia from the UK. He was taken to Mountain Goat within weeks of landing in Melbourne, joined their indoor cricket team, and is still navigating the rabbit hole that is craft beer to this day.
The beers that turned you on to good beer:
- Watching pints of McEwan's 80 Shilling settle when visiting family in Edinburgh.
- Pints of flat Bass from the jug at the Cap & Stocking in Kegworth.
- A first Paulaner Hefeweizen when working in Munich in 1998: “This smells of bananas!”
- Castle Rock Harvest Pale – how could a 3.8 percent ABV beer be so good? (It turns out it was an early example of the three Cs – Cascade, Centennial and Columbus – in an English bitter).
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA poured through hops at the Sunset Grill in Cambridge, MA, in the company of a man who turned out to be the Beer Nut (while we were both covering a double murder case at the time).
- Ordering a Mountain Goat Hightail on my first day as an Aussie resident as it was local and I’d never heard of it; “A dark Australian beer; well I never…”
- Murray’s Icon 2IPA at Beer DeLuxe Fed Square, recommended by a guy I’d not long known who's now the main man at Fixation, served by Mik Halse, now head of sales at Hawkers. How could an Australian beer smell as good as that?!?
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
- Any really good, fresh and balanced West Coast style IPA. Punchy hop aromatics are the most obvious way to capture someone's attention and these IPAs, done well, present the key components in beer (if you're sticking to just water, malt, hops and yeast) in harmony yet with the volume turned up.
- Saison Dupont. Arguably a selfish choice here as I bloody love the broad saison style and dearly hope it will finally take hold in Australia one day. Given a choice, I'd probably crack one enlivened with Brettanomyces like Molly Rose Matilde for myself but, when it comes to turning on someone new, you've got to go with the classic.
- Rodenbach Caractère Rouge. Because if you don't enjoy or can't appreciate this beer, I'll never win you over. And because Filip, the fruit and wood specialist at Rodenbach that designed it, is a beautiful human.
The last beer you enjoyed:
Fixation IPA at The Incubator.
Three things that represent you:
- The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Golden Plains
NB All articles written by James in the first eight years of the site appear as By Crafty Pint. Today, that's used for collaborative efforts by the wider team.
