• Lovedale's head brewer Michael Capaldo with trophies from the Royal Sydney Beer and Cider Show.
    Lovedale's head brewer Michael Capaldo with trophies from the Royal Sydney Beer and Cider Show.
Close×

Sydney Brewery will double the fermentation capacity of its Lovedale brewery and build a packaging line that will include a 2500 bottle-per-hour filler, 1800 can-per-hour canning line, pasteuriser for cider, high-end laboratory, and a new cogeneration plant to power the brewery and distillery.

This will make Lovedale the first craft brewery in the country to invest in this type of green energy.

The investment will see the Hunter Valley facility become the major production plant for Sydney Brewery, which moved its large-scale operations to Lovedale two years ago.

Chief brewer Michael Capaldo said that while still very much a ‘craft brewery’, the new capacity would help meet the increased demand for Sydney Brewery’s range of beers and ciders.

“The whole process from grain to brain is very meticulous,” he said.

“You can't compromise on quality with today's consumer. They're very educated, knowledgeable, and they know what they want to drink. So we don't release a batch if it's not in spec."

Sydney Brewery was recently honoured with ‘champion’ beer and cider trophies at the 2015 Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show.

Food & Drink Business

Our Top 100 2025 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine is more than the annual flagship Top 100 Report. Industry leaders reflect on the year past and the one ahead, we provide our annual news review, M&A wrap-up, and all the executive moves, and a Roman-inspired sports drink, Posca, is our final Rising Star for 2025.

A blend of salt, red wine vinegar, and water – known as Posca – was the ‘original sports drink’, helping to keep the soldiers of the Roman Empire marching up to 30 kilometres per day. Keira Joyce spoke with Posca Hydrate co-founders, Merrick Watts and Ed Stening, about reviving a 2000-year-old functional beverage for the modern healthy lifestyle.

From the big deals to the quiet divestments, Food & Drink Business editor, Kim Berry, recounts the mergers and acquisitions of 2025.