Rumor Mill: Last Call For “Beer Roadie” Contest / Ballast Point Closes San Francisco Taproom
Rumor Mill: Last Call For “Beer Roadie” Contest / Ballast Point Closes San Francisco Taproom

If you want to get into the running for an opportunity to become an Iron Maiden / Lagunitas “Beer Roadie” you need to act now. We’ve that “Words to Drink By” and more.
Last Call To Win Lagunitas Beer Roadie Position
Iron Maiden’s Trooper Beer line is now in its fourteenth year, with sales approaching 50 million pints worldwide since its launch in 2013. The majority of Trooper beers were brewed by Robinsons in the UK. But in 2021 the band collaborated with BrewDog in the US and now in 2026 Iron Maiden has partnered with Lagunitas Brewing for its second stateside release.
To help launch the newest Trooper beer Lagunitas is inviting craft beer and music fans to apply for its first-ever Beer Roadie position: an all-expenses-paid, limited-time role that offers a hands-on Trooper West Coast IPA training as it rolls out alongside the USA leg of Iron Maiden’s 2026 World Tour, kicking off in New Jersey on September 5.
One lucky Beer Roadie will work alongside Lagunitas brewers and beer educators, learning how Trooper West Coast IPA is brewed, handled, and served, then take that knowledge on the road to Eddie’s Dive Bar pre‑show pop‑up events at select Iron Maiden Run for Your Lives Tour stops.
Applicants hoping to land the coveted Lagunitas Beer Roadie role must submit a 30-second video HERE answering one simple question: “What would make you the ideal candidate as the Trooper Beer Roadie?”
Entries will be narrowed to three finalists, who will be interviewed by the Lagunitas selection committee before one winner is chosen to receive training at Lagunitas’ headquarters, before hitting the road for select tour stops.
Videos must be uploaded before 11:59 PM on July 7, 2026, so you know what to do
Words to Drink By
” Haters are all failures. It’s 100% across the board. No one who is truly brilliant at anything is a hater.”- Joe Rogan
Ballast Point Closes San Francisco Taproom
On Monday, June 29, Ballast Point Brewing abruptly closed its San Francisco tasting room in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. The San Diego-based craft brewery announced the closure via an Instagram post on its final day, expressing gratitude to the local craft beer community but provided no official reason for the sudden exit.
While ownership did not specify a reason, industry experts and local feedback point to a mix of macroeconomic and location-based challenges:
Shifting Demographics: Declining alcohol consumption among younger generations, has hit sales hard.- Foot Traffic Hurdles: Built to capitalize on San Francisco’s professional sports franchise, visitors to platforms like Reddit noted that the massive space sat largely empty on non-game days. Its location was isolated from standard pedestrian corridors and too far from Oracle Park and Chase Center to capture consistent pre-event crowd.
- Operational Rules: And maybe an even bigger factor, the taproom was reportedly closed on Sundays, missing out on prime weekend and football-season business
This recent closure is part of a severe, ongoing correction in the craft beer industry, which once saw massive valuation, such as Constellation Brands purchasing Ballast Point for $1 billion in 2015 before offloading it to Kings & Convicts in 2019 for a fraction of that amount.
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