Melbourne’s oldest independent craft brewery – 3 Ravens – is planning brew pubs in every state, equipped with sustainable technologies, with a Birchal crowd funding campaign underway.
In the first two days of private funding, the brewer raised $377,000 and has more than 1300 expressions of interests from independent investors.
3 Ravens general manager Nathan Liascos said the team had been long time advocates for the adoption of green technology in the brewing industry.
Its home base in Thornbury will be fitted with a new CO2 chiller heat pump coupled with Industry 4.0 technology that captures waste heat from the brewing process. The state-of-the-art pumps will allow 3 Ravens to reduce their energy consumption by over 70 per cent, reducing their carbon emissions whilst also reducing manufacturing costs.
“The heart of our business is the award-winning beer we brew, however reducing our environmental impact in any way we can has always been a priority for us.
“We’re incredibly proud of the work that has been done to develop this new technology, and look forward to sharing our techniques, insights and technology with other brewers, independent or not,” Liascos said.
The first step in expansion outside of Melbourne will be in Perth, with a planned opening later this year.
The plan has special meaning for 3 Ravens head brewer Brendan O’Sullivan who comes from Perth.
“Perth is home to some of Australia’s best and most creative brewers, including a lot of members of our own team. It’s also where I grew up, so for a lot of us it’s kind of a homecoming” O'Sullivan said.
“It’s a really exciting prospect to bring our beer to Perth and our expertise and sustainability focus to the region and showcase how other breweries can also reduce their carbon footprint,” he added.
3 Ravens began in the warehouse of an engineering business 18 years ago. It now produces a permanent portfolio of six beers and more than 25 seasonal releases every year.
It has built a reputation for its experimental brews, but also for being at the forefront of pioneering craft beer styles now commonplace in pubs and bottleshops, such as hazy IPAs, sours, wild fermented ales, barrel aged and fortified beers.
Liascos said 3 Ravens has remained fiercely independent and has been awarded Champion Australian Small Brewery three times.
“Despite lockdowns in Melbourne extending further than anywhere else in the world, 3 Ravens still brought in $3.3M in revenue in 2021.
“With lockdown restrictions ending and international export markets reopening, we are expecting even bigger revenue growth as we expand our brewing capacity and hospitality footprint across the nation. The added benefit will be brewing our beers closer to customer, reducing our reliance on the supply chain and our carbon footprint,” Liascos said.
The brewery has plans to expand its Thornbury operations as well as establish the Perth site, with the team eyeing locations in Sydney and Brisbane.
3 Ravens’ crowdfunding campaign on Birchal is now open to the public now.
