Brewery Obituaries: Wild Card, Cellarmen’s And Queen City Brewery Of Cincinnati

, Brewery Obituaries: Wild Card, Cellarmen’s And Queen City Brewery Of Cincinnati

It’s a sign of craft beer’s changing landscape that we find ourselves increasingly reporting on brewery closings.

But with more than 7,500 craft breweries currently online and industry growth slowing, closing announcements are unfortunately becoming more frequent.

Seeking New Wildcard Brewing Suspends Operations

Faced with an increasingly competitive craft brewery climate and the “financial hurdles” of trying to keep up, Redding, California–based Wildcard Brewing has announced it is seeking new ownership.

, Brewery Obituaries: Wild Card, Cellarmen’s And Queen City Brewery Of CincinnatiFounded by husband and wife, Jeff and Jenny Hansen in 2012 Wildcard Brewing, has in addition to its main production facility, also closed down its two Northern California tasting rooms according to the Record Searchlight.

“Unfortunately, the ground has shifted beneath our feet. Breweries are opening at incredible rates, leaving our regional distribution plans with some major pitfalls,” Wildcard co-owner Jenny Hansen said in a news release…

“As we looked at our model and we looked at what is happening in our industry, we took a step back and angled ourselves to focus on direct to consumer sales through our tasting rooms. Unfortunately, the financial hurdles of that expansion became too much.”

Cellarmen’s Ceases Operations

In October 2015, Cellarmen’s opened its beer, cider and mead facility in Hazel Park, Michigan. And on July 27th the 2,000-square-foot production facility and tasting room, closed its doors for good.

, Brewery Obituaries: Wild Card, Cellarmen’s And Queen City Brewery Of Cincinnati“We took a step back recently to examine our industry, the untimely death of one of our founders, distribution obstacles, and unreasonably excessive requests stemming from our landlord, which led us to the incredibly difficult decision,” said Cellarmen’s Partner Dominic Calzetta.

“We have spent the better part of four years giving everything we have to produce the absolute highest quality product possible for your enjoyment. Sometimes however, the ups and downs of business prove to be insurmountable.”

 Queen City Brewery of Cincinnati to Close in September

Founded by brothers Mike and Marquis Wofford, head brewer Jason Surniak and a fourth, silent partner in 2016 the Queen City Brewery of Cincinnati was part of the region’s first wave of craft brewers, but they’ve announced that they are relinquishing their crown…Unlike Wild Card Brewing and Cellarmen’s who have already shuttered their doors Queen City will remain open till its beer runs dry in September.

, Brewery Obituaries: Wild Card, Cellarmen’s And Queen City Brewery Of CincinnatiThis from Queen City’s bittersweet Facebook announcement…

 “It’s with a heavy heart that we make this announcement. We embarked on this adventure because we are truly passionate about making great beer, and we wanted to share our passion with the community.”

“Unfortunately a lot has changed in the industry over the past few years, and people were either wanting more than we could afford to provide, or had an expectation of who they wanted us to be.

“In order for a small business like ours to succeed, we relied on the local community to support us, just as we supported the local community. For whatever reason, we were never fully embraced.”

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