James [Jay] Boag speaks out on Lion decision to close visitor centre

"It absolutely infuriated me when I heard about the closure of the visitor centre, and I'm still wild," Mr Boag said on Monday.

Lion made the decision to axe the centre last week.

The space where the visitor centre lays is one Mr Boag knows well. He used to spend afternoons after school waiting for his father, who ran the bottle company supplying the brewery for decades from the same address.

Mr Boag believes the decision to close what is a snapshot of the brewery's history was riddled with issues.

"I believe closing on the basis of financial factors, with one full-time and 11 casual employees, Lion could run that out of their petty cash. They're a big organisation, there's likely another reason behind closing," he said.

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Now living in Victoria, Mr Boag said it appeared those responsible for marketing the brew had fallen asleep at the wheel.

"Lion hasn't operated the business the way previous owners have. I can't remember the last time an ad for Boags was shown in Victoria.

"We have the best beer in the country and it's not being advertised."

He drew upon the "who is James Boag" campaign, run under previous owner, a listed company controlled by US merchant banker Philip Atkins, as an example of sharing the Boag's story.

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He said the closure was at odds with the wider Tasmanian tourism industry.

"The decision was made by a short-sighted accountant siting in an ivory tower who wouldn't know how to point to Tasmania on a map," Mr Boag said.

While his other concern was the future of historic merchandise, including a collection of beer cans and bottles.

"It would be a shame to see all of it split up," he said.

Mr Boag said ideally he wants to see Lion put money into keeping Boag's going.

"Otherwise the next step to closing the visitor centre is probably closing the brewery," he said.

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