Boag’s brewery closure does not pass the pub test

LION, the beer company that owns Boag’s Brewery in Launceston should immediately rethink the move to shut down the brewery’s visitor centre as a service to the Tasmanian community.

The company made the announcement that it was closing the James Boag’s Brewery Experience, comprising brewery tours, a visitor centre and a bar and function hire space late Wednesday.

The move has been labelled a significant blow for tourism in the state.

Bass Labor MP Michelle O’Byrne was one of the first to comment on the closure now scheduled for the end of this month.

“The Boag’s tour is an institution. (I am) so distressed to hear the Boag’s experience is being wound up at the end of January. This (is an) important tourism experience, employs locally and drives our visitor economy,” she said. In response a Boag’s spokesman said the decision came after a difficult few years brought on by the Covid pandemic.

“The last few years have been very challenging for our business with overall beer consumption in decline, rising input costs and the impacts of Covid on the hospitality and tourism industries,” they said. An impassioned Premier Jeremy Rockliff demanded the owners reconsider the decision.

He said it was “a massive kick in the guts for both the workers at the site and the local Launceston economy.”

“The government has reached out to Lion management this morning to better understand the reasoning for this decision and we stand ready to assist where we can to allow this iconic Launceston experience to continue into the future,” Mr Rockliff said.

The company’s reasoning behind the move does seem a little off.

Why close at a time when Tasmania’s tourism industry is booming and the Boag’s visitor centre and tours are so well loved. Lions need to reassess the potential damage that it is doing to the community and state by closing this venture.