Boag’s Brewery will stop brewing beer in Tasmania from November, with production moving to Lion’s mainland network in Queensland and New South Wales.
Staff were brought into an early-morning meeting on Tuesday and informed of the decision.
The proposal will affect all 42 full-time brewery workers. About 10 casual staff work at the site’s brewhouse, which will stay open.
Lion chief executive Anubha Sahasrabuddhe said the brewery was operating at less than a fifth of its capacity and that the main reason was a long decline in beer drinking, not cost.
“Australians are just drinking far less beer,” she said. The category had been falling about 1.5% a year for 50 years.
Sahasrabuddhe acknowledged the news would be “difficult” for the team and the Launceston community.
“I am so sorry that we’re at this point where this proposal is necessary,” she said.
In a statement, Sahasrabuddhe said the closure was “no reflection on the incredible capability, passion and commitment of our brewery team members”.
Sahasrabuddhe said Lion will set up a $500,000 reskilling fund for affected workers and a $500,000 Boag’s Community Fund for local grassroots organisations.
It will also repay the $1 million the state government granted in 2023 to upgrade the brewhouse.
“It absolutely will be paid back,” Sahasrabuddhe said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
The repayment closes a loop that opened less than three years ago, when the government stepped in to keep the Boag’s visitor centre open.
In January 2023 Lion announced it would shut the Launceston visitor centre tours and bar but reversed the decision within days after the government offered the $1 million package.
Brewery tours will continue while the brewery operates.
After November the site becomes a food and beverage venue where visitors can sample Boag’s on tap.
Sahasrabuddhe said Tasmanian beer prices would not rise and the same range would be sold.
Beer would be brewed on the mainland to the same recipe and standards.
Lion will work with the Launceston City Council and the state government on the future of the site. The company would not say whether the land is for sale.
The change brings an end to large-scale brewing in the state for one of Tasmania’s best-known beer brands.
Beer under the Boag’s name has been brewed in Launceston since the 1880s.
The brand is owned by Lion, a trans-Tasman company that sits under the Japanese drinks group Kirin.
The move comes after earlier reductions at the brewery.
In June 2024 Lion shifted production of Boag’s beer headed for mainland and overseas buyers to the mainland and cut the site to a single daily shift.
Around 15 positions went then. Another round of job cuts followed in 2025.
Tasmanian Hospitality Association (THA) chief executive Steve Old called the closure “a massive blow” and said his focus was helping the 42 workers find new jobs.
“It’s pretty devastating when an iconic brand like this leaves Tassie shores,” Old said.
