Photo: La Sirène Brewing’s Facebook page

La Sirène Brewing has temporarily closed its production brewery and bar after traces of asbestos were found at the Melbourne Innovation Centre.

The business first made the announcement to its Facebook page last Friday, stating that Bar La Sirène would close “indefinitely” due to circumstances beyond the business’ control.

A media release by founders Costa and Eva Nikias today confirmed that the City of Darebin had directed the Melbourne Innovation Centre (MIC) to close two buildings, affecting both the production brewery and bar.

“Out of an abundance of caution and overnight, Darebin City Council closed two buildings that affect the access and operations of La Sirene Brewing, Bar La Sirene and 13 other businesses on site,” the media release read.

“As of Friday afternoon, we were locked out of our production brewery. We are unable to brew, process or package any beer. Multiple tanks of beer awaiting processing and packaging cannot be accessed.

“Council and MIC have been helpful, and we can only rely on their assistance and goodwill.”

Darebin City Council CEO Peter Smith said the buildings would be closed for several weeks until further testing, cleaning and the remediation program is complete.

“We are working closely with the MIC and its tenants, and we have temporarily closed the two buildings to allow for further environmental testing and remediation work to be undertaken,” Smith said in a media release.

“We understand this is inconvenient for impacted tenants, particularly at this time of the year. Council, together with the MIC are looking at options to minimise the impact and assist those businesses.

“This may include finding alternative venues and locations in the area that would enable these businesses to continue trading.”

La Sirène Brewing first launched its brewery in 2010, with Bar La Sirène opening only two months ago.

“We sincerely hope that appropriate remediation happens swiftly so that we can keep on doing what we have always done here since 2010 in the amazing community driven suburb of Alphington,” Costa and Eva Nikias said.

“Questions regarding the longevity of the building, our brewery, bar and of the future of our business, livelihood and brand are for the future. Our path at the moment is very unclear.

“We thank you, ALL our customers, supporters, believers, friends, collaborators and family far and wide so much for being the reason our dreams have come true over the last 12 years and for appreciating our locally made wild ales.”

Darebin City Council confirmed the temporary closure has no impact on surrounding sites or the community, with cleaning and testing continuing into 2023.