Independent craft brewery, Mountain Culture, has acquired Fox Friday Brewing and its associated entities. Fox Friday went into voluntary administration in mid-April.
Fox Friday was based in Hobart, Tasmania, and had three taprooms – Hobart, Melbourne, and Perth – and Moonah Hotel and Cellars, and Carwyn Cellars.
On Instagram, the co-owners, Benn and Sarah Hooper, said they were facing “significant financial challenges” because their lender could not meet its obligations for capital projects.
“While funding was confirmed, we experienced continual delays extending to March 2025, and now they have been placed into liquidation. This left us covering major capital projects with operational funds, based on assurances that support was still coming.
“We tried everything we could to quickly pivot to new lenders and/or equity partners, but quite simply, time and the complex nature of the situation were not on our side,” Benn Hooper said.
Mountain Culture said it couldn’t share details of its plans, but the short-term focus was to meet with the teams and build transition plans for the individual venues.
Co-founders DJ and Harriet McCready said, “We’re so excited. We really respect Fox Friday not just for their awesome beer, but the local communities they have built. This is a chance to not just continue the amazing growth of our brand and connect in a really authentic way with those new communities, but also to do what’s right for them and the craft industry as a whole.”
Mountain Culture launched in 2019 in the Blue Mountains. In 2022, it opened a brewpub and second brewery in Emu Plains, at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
It has won the annual GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers three years in a row since 2023. And in late 2024, the brewer opened a Sydney brewhouse in Redfern, on a site previously occupied by Atomic Brewing.
