Named in honour of Bright Brewery co-founder, the late Fiona Reddaway, “Fred’s Shed” in Churchill Avenue was officially opened last week.

Bright Brewery owner and co-founder Scott Brandon said it was a tribute to his late wife, who died aged 40 from cancer in early 2014.

“Fiona was a crucial part of the business,” he said.

“When we were starting out, she said: ‘If you’re going to do this, you’ve got to have a proper business plan’.

“Us guys, we just wanted to make beer and sell it!

“The brew house is a huge tribute to what she set up.”

Mr Brandon and Ms Reddaway joined David and Julie Cocks to start Bright Brewery in 2005.

During the past 12 years, Bright Brewery has refined the brew pub winning formula and now employs more than 40.

In 2015 Bright Brewery was named the Alpine Shire Business of the Year and in 2017 it received the Gold Award for tourism wineries, distilleries and breweries at the Victorian Tourism Awards.

Mr Brandon said the new brew house – a wholesale production facility only – would allow the business to dramatically increase production.

“Straight off the bat we’ll be able to triple production,” Mr Brandon said.

“We’ve been brewing 100,000 litres a year from the original site.

“Now we’ll be able to brew 300,000 litres from the new brew house with the potential to brew 2 to 3 million litres a year.”

Mr Brandon said the growth in production would allow them to produce enough beer to wholesale the product outside of the North East.

“I’m looking forward to getting our beers out into the broader market,” he said.

“To get our beers out into the wider market will hopefully be a little advertisement for the town.

“If people buy our beers from the bottle shop to take home and drink with their friends hopefully it starts a conversation about Bright and people’s experiences of Bright.

“This will help with tourism.”

Mr Brandon said the brewery continued to focus on sustainability.

The brewery underwent a major redevelopment during 2012, transforming it into an environmentally-friendly venue with enough solar power to run the brewery.

“We have also substantially reduced our hard waste,” Mr Brandon said.

Mr Brandon said the Gavan Street site would remain the showroom brewery for new and experimental beers.

“There is a huge amount of variety that can be achieved.”