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It’s a sign of craft beer’s increasingly turbulent times that we find ourselves reporting on brewery closings more often than we would like to.
But with more than 7,500 craft breweries currently online and industry growth slowing, some breweries are closing and others filing for bankruptcy…
Western NY’s 2nd Oldest Craft Brewery to Close
CB Craft Brewers, western New York’s the second oldest craft brewery will close its doors at the end of this month, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Launched in 1995, the Honeoye Falls, NY-based heritage brewery closing is actually more of a retirement according to its founder Mike Alcorn…
“I’ve just made the decision in the past few days about what we’re going to do…We’re going out with a bang. There will be some cheers, but for me and my staff, we’re excited to have been on this ride. It has been so cool for us.”
Now PHX Beer Company
The Phoenix Ale Brewery “Transitions” into PHX Beer Company
A long-time Phoenix-based taproom, the Phoenix Ale Brewery is (to use and increasingly familiar term) “transitioning” into a new operation, PHX Beer Company.
This Phoenix-like “rebirth” of Greek mythological proportions, which includes both Phoenix Ale Brewery locations and happens this week.
Rich Stark, will continue to oversee the Central Kitchen location, which he launched in 2016 under an agreement with the brewery.
And Adam Wojcik, a 17-year industry veteran, who most recently was a national sales rep for California-based Lagunitas Brewing, is in charge of all brewing operations according to ABC 15.
Empire Farm Brewery Files for Bankruptcy
Facing more than $10 million in debts, the Empire Farm Brewery “has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and is seeking to sell much of its property and assets in order to reorganize and stay open,” according to Syracuse.com.
The rural brewery, which Dale Katleski opened in the summer of 2016 as a spinoff of the Empire Brewing Co. in downtown Syracuse, has almost 100 employees. But the two businesses are separate, so the farm brewery’s Chapter 11 filing does not affect the brewpub.
One of the largest farm brewery’s on the East Coas,t the $6 million farmstead brewery, kitchen and tasting room, located on a 22-acre farm just south of Cazenovia, NY, will remain open for business as usual while it liquidates assets as part of its reorganization plan.
