As the COVID-19 lockdown continues, more and more craft breweries cease operations forever.
Boundary BrewingCo. from Kelowna, British Columbia, shut its doors in March due to COVID-19 like most craft breweries. “We were hoping for a good summer this year, but with no end in sight for the spread of the pandemic, the prospects going forward are bleak,”owner Oliver Gläser said in March. Today on May 1, nearly two months later, he confirmed his worst fears through a video posted to the Boundary Brewing Instagram page. “End of an era,” the caption said. “We are closed…for good.”
On Thursday, April 30th, Pyramid Alehouse in Seattle, Washington, announced it was closing permanently. The brewery whose history dates back 36 years and which is owned by FIFCO USA, a subsidiary of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co., relied “heavily on events that draw a significant number of people to Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood,” FIFCO USA Chief Executive Officer Rich Andrews said. “Our Alehouse business has become increasingly difficult to operate. The current environment will make it even harder.” However, the brand will not disappear since the vast majority of the beer produced by Pyramid Brewing comes from the company’s large facility in Portland, Oregon.
On Monday, April 27th, Joseph James Brewing Co. from Henderson, Nevada, “located about 20 min from the Las Vegas strip”, announced on its facebook site that “after much deliberation, we have come to the incredibly difficult decision to cease operations indefinitely.” The brewery was started in 2008 “as the only production craft brewery in southern Nevada.”
The U.S. Brewers Association (BA) warned already one month ago, that many craft breweries in America will have to close if the lockdown of brewpubs, bars and restaurants will continue over a longer period. The organization asked 455 breweries across the United States how long they could survive a lockdown. 14% of the breweries said that they can sustain their business with current costs, revenues and state and federal aid only up to one month, 46% believed they can survive for one to three months, 25% for three to six months, 9% six months to a year, and only 6% said they can stand the current situation for longer than one year (inside.beer, 7.4.2020).
With this in mind, the above list has for sure soon to be extended.
