On January 9, the Ravenswood bushfire tore through Harcourt in Central Victoria. Among the damage was the Harcourt Cooperative Cool Stores, a facility that more than 90 businesses relied on to store wine, beer, apples, produce and more. When it burned, it took stock from breweries, wineries and producers across the region. Kegs, cartons, packaged product. For some businesses, it was months of work wiped out in a single day. Shedshaker Brewing in Castlemaine lost around 90 percent of their stock. Rock & Ranges, a small brewing cooperative, were left with just two kegs. Love Shack, Cornella Brewery, Brewers Collective. All hit. As The Crafty Pint reported, the Cool Store wasn’t just a storage facility. It was a critical piece of supply chain infrastructure for a huge number of independent producers across the region. And for many of those businesses, the losses weren’t just beer. They were cashflow, sales and momentum. ## Then the Industry Did What It Always Does Instead of watching people go under, the brewing community showed up. Rock & Ranges donated their last two kegs to a fundraiser at The Victoria Hotel in Woodend, supported by Bridge Road, Moon Dog, Good Drinks and others. That single event raised $56,000 for the Harcourt Progress Association and the Foundation for Rural, Regional Renewal. Then a group of Central Victorian breweries came together for a fundraising collaboration brew at Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend. Shedshaker, Bendigo Brewing, Cornella Brewery, Rock & Ranges, Hepburn Springs Brewing, Palling Bros, Lost Watering Hole and Brewers Collective all got involved. Ingredients were donated by HPA, Voyager and Bluestone Yeast. Holgate donated their brewhouse and their time. The collab beer, a Pacific Ale called Harcourt Rising, was released in cans with all proceeds going to bushfire recovery. The Harcourt Rising fundraiser weekend ran February 20 to 22 at Shedshaker’s Taproom in Castlemaine, featuring live music, wine showcases, art auctions and raffles. The Saturday night headliner, Hunters (featuring members of Hunters & Collectors) with Paul Dempsey from Something For Kate, sold out within 24 hours. That’s how this industry works. People don’t wait for permission. They just start doing. ## This Is the Part People Forget Brewing ties together agriculture, manufacturing, logistics and hospitality. When something hits one part of the chain, it hits everyone: farmers, brewers, venues, suppliers, staff and the communities around them. And when something goes wrong, it’s not the big corporates that save the day. It’s the industry itself. ## Bluestone Played a Small Part At Bluestone Yeast, we donated yeast for the Holgate collaboration brew, alongside others across the industry who stepped up with ingredients, time and capacity. Not for publicity. Because that’s what you do when you’re part of this ecosystem. We’re a local yeast manufacturer. We exist because of Australian independent breweries. Supporting them when things go wrong isn’t charity. It’s the baseline. ## The Point Isn’t the Fire. The Point Is the Industry. The Harcourt fires were brutal. The recovery is still ongoing, and there are producers who will be feeling the impact for a long time. But the response was a reminder of something important. Beer is community infrastructure. And when communities get hit, this industry doesn’t talk. It acts. ## Build a Supply Chain That Shows Up The recovery is far from over. If you want to support the breweries affected by the Harcourt fires, the simplest way is to walk into their venues, enjoy a cold one, and spend some money where it matters. Or jump on their websites and buy beer or merch online. Here are some of the breweries that were directly impacted: - Love Shack Brewing, Castlemaine- Shedshaker Brewing, Castlemaine- Rock & Ranges Brewing Co-op, Macedon Ranges- Cornella Brewery, Heathcote Every pint, every merch order, every visit counts. These are small, independent businesses rebuilding after losing months of stock overnight. These breweries also stepped up with donations of beer, ingredients, brewhouse time and capacity to support the recovery: - Holgate Brewhouse, Woodend (hosted the collab brew)- Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth- Moon Dog Brewing, Melbourne- Hepburn Springs Brewing, Hepburn Springs Their bottom lines took a hit too. Supporting any of these businesses is a direct way to back an industry that looks after its own. Beyond direct support, the best thing any brewery can do is choose suppliers and partners who actually strengthen the industry, who manufacture locally, reinvest in brewing, and show up when things go wrong. If you’re thinking about your fermentation program, yeast supply, or how to build more consistency into your process this year, let’s talk. Book a 15-minute fermentation planning call with Derek --- Want to talk yeast? Browse our strain catalogue, explore our Nutrient Booster range, or get in touch to discuss your brewery’s needs.