AS FAR as business problems go, being too popular is one of the better ones to have.

Less than a year after bottling its first beer Reservoir’s Hawkers Brewery has maxed out its brewing capacity and carried home a case of awards.

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Co-founder Mazen Hajjar said the Henty St brewery had enjoyed a dream introduction to Melbourne’s bubbling craft beer scene.

“It’s been so overwhelming,” Mr Hajjar said. “We haven’t even closed out our first year and we’re already on top of where we thought we’d be in year five — we’ve completely maxed out capacity.”

“We’re already in over 100 independent bottle shops in Victoria,” he said.

The Reservoir brewery, which rolled out its first kegs in February, is the brainchild of Lebanese brewer Mazen Hajjar and chef Joseph Abboud.

Abboud is one of the chefs behind the popular Thornbury Lebanese pizzeria Moors Head, and Hajjar is the founder of 961 Beer, the only microbrewery in Lebanon — which exports to 26 countries.

The Hawkers Pale Ale won the People’s Choice Award at Geelong’s Great Australian Beer Festival on Saturday, February 21 — just one day after the first run of bottles came off the line.

“Since winning at Geelong we got another six medals at the Australian International Beer Awards, and then we got another six medals at the Craft Beer Awards, so it’s not bad for our first year so far,” Mr Hajjar said.

Since launching in February, Hawkers has kept a strong local presence, giving the first keg to Thornbury’s Carwyn Cellars, helping out Regent Cellars in its revamp, and taking over the taps at Preston restaurant Dexter.

“We are very local and we hope to be very local,” Mr Hajjar said. “We are completely committed to our local community, that’s for sure.”

Hawkers Brewery will be featured at the Ballarat Beer Festival on Saturday, January 16.