Beerpocalypse Now: Another popular brewery shuts down

The great beerpocalypse continues to wreak havoc on what used to be a thriving industry.

You can trace the beginning of the downturn in the local craft-brewed beer market to the Covid pandemic. Many breweries had to close the public-facing parts of their operations and lost on party and event rentals.

Related: Popular beer brand shuts down brewery, lays off employees

In many cases, the brewers lost the most lucrative part of their business — selling directly to customers without a middleman. They kept their lower-margin wholesale business, but pubs were closed for months.

During those dark days, brewery and brewpub owners did not have to stop paying rent, and they still had some employee costs. Debt levels climbed, creating a situation that required businesses to go back to pre-pandemic levels to support continued operations.

In many cases, that simply did not happen. Many craft beers, breweries, and brewpubs have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with some ending up being liquidated. This so-called "beerpocalypse" claimed big names, including San Francisco's Anchor Brewing, a titan of the craft beer space.