Tag: closing

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Breaking News – Anchor Brewing to Cease Operations

Bad news has come to pass as Anchor Brewing who was bought by Sapporo in 2017 will cease operations and the business will be liquidated.  According to news released, Sapporo had been attempting to sell the San Francisco heritage brewery for some time now and found no bids.  

A financial knight could ride in during the liquidation process and the Anchor Public Taps will remain open until the beer runs out.  One of the beers on tap is the 2023 Christmas Ale which was being ramped into production. Probably the biggest whale in the beer ticking world for some time.  

You can get the sad details from Dave Infante at Vinepair who should get a tip of the hat for the journalism he has done on this story.  But, to me, this development seems to come at a weird time.  A history of Anchor (which I reviewed on this blog) came out recently, Sapporo let Anchor buy the ingredients for Christmas Ale, Anchor came out with a new summer Mexican lager and the vitriol over the bland logo re-brand had faded.  Those moves don’t signal floundering to me.

If Sapporo thought that the money would come from brewing Sapporo in San Francisco, that seems misguided since Sapporo owned Stone seems much better suited to that task.

Fingers crossed that this is not the end, end but maybe, and this might be an idea too crazy, there should be a brewery who only does beers from defunct craft breweries.  A place that snaps up recipes like the steam beer and Christmas ale and Liberty Ale so that they are not completely lost.  

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The Dog has Retired

Looks like Alan Sprints has decided to retire which means that Hair of the Dog Brewing, the much lauded Portland brewery will be retiring as well.

From a video that Sprints posted, he will be done in the summer, there will be a few more new beer releases but mostly, it will be selling what is in stock until the last bottle is sold.

This is a legendary brewery and I highly recommend snaring a bottle or two to have for special occasions.

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Mikkeller Down

I wasn’t expecting this news. Not with the Lakers-Clippers-Kings keeping Staples Center busy and considering that the brand is opening in Portland. They had a nice city chain working up the coast and now it is broken.

I don’t know if the space was too big or the coffee shop / bottle shop was not pulling people in but the few times that I went, there were crowds. It wasn’t the typical uncrowded restaurant that you can tell is not going to last.

This all being said without knowledge of the franchise style that operates the San Francisco and formerly L.A. locations. It is a loss that combined with Mega Bodega leaving last year in the same area that does not bode well for craft beer.

Maybe they can find a new location, plenty of mixed use space in the condos of Glendale.

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RIP – Barley Forge

There is a brewery casualty coming from Costa Mesa and it is the five-year old Barley Forge. There were signs in the tea leaves. They recently had a “work walk-out” which garnered a little press, and there was a Facebook post from the founder talking about returning to full-time work at a law firm but from responses to the news, it seems like many claim that the tap room was full and that the closure is based purely on the rent being raised to a non-workable level probably due to the fancy mixed use shopping area across the street that the landlord thinks he can get a piece of.

More than likely, it is a combination of all of the above. Anytime someone goes back to a day job means that something went wrong. If you were a fan, best to buy what you can while you still can.

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Smog-urgy

In a case of in with old and out with the newer, Zymurgy Brew Works and Tasting Room in Torrance will be closing as of July 31, 2019. The space will not sitting fallow for long though as Smog City will be taking that space over with a projected 9/1/19 opening (don’t write that in stone).

I never visited the Zymurgy location. In ignorance, I thought it was a homebrew store only for a long time.  I did try their beers at the L.A. Beer Week Kick-Off  but never really learned more about them though they were on my too-long “should visit” list.

The space has “16 taps, a new long bar and a comfortable lounge area”, per the e-mail that announced the closing so that would seem suited to the full range of Smog City beers and not just wild and sours.

With space at SteelCraft in Bixby Knolls, selling at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and an upcoming stall at a Glendora Food Hall, this new space further expands the empire of Little Bo Pils.

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End of the Celebrator


Another casualty of the phasing out of print has hit the beer world. The Celebrator Beer News is now moving online only. The paper nudged over the 30-year line but that was the end of the run.

A combination of advertising deficits and the shift to reading from tablets and phones did the brewspaper in. This development has probably pushed publisher Tom Dalldorf to do what perhaps should have been done years ago, positioning the website as the main portal and adding more timely stories while keeping brewery information more up to date. A mobile app has been floated as a possibility as well, which I am all for as well.

Back in the “olden” days. The Celebrator was my window to the beer scene of the nation. Each of the correspondents had a distinct writing style and it was fun to read the stories of beer dinners and festivals in other states and around the world. It was also a bit maddening that it was always behind a couple of months. Now that the focus is on the site, I will be certainly reading it more frequently for beer updates. And I think it will free up the correspondents to write more pro-active pieces.

As I said in a Facebook comment, I hope this is just the closing of a chapter and not the book.

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Westwood Brewing Down

I remember the Westwood Brewing Company in both of its incarnations.  But it appears that it will be no more.  And that is a bit sad.

I had a few of the beers that were brewed there even though I had to trek to the Westside from Glendale.  And even though none really lit my fire, I always hoped that with a new brewer or a tweak of recipes that things could change. But between one set of my infrequent visits it changed ownership and the brewing stopped.

After it became a generic bar with brewing equipment as props only and karaoke nights, I returned a couple more times before Bruin basketball or the Festival of Books and they still poured a better than average list of beers.  I would routinely find Full Sail on tap.  But it was clear that they either needed to go all in on craft or cater more to the student crowd.  They seemed to be straddling a middle ground.

Maybe one day, brewing will return to Westwood.  At least, I hope whatever usable brewing equipment is left can find a home where it can be put back into use.

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Blue Palms Situation has Me Blue


The craft beer scene in Los Angeles had an eventful weekend. First, the news that Angel City was now owned by Alchemy and Science and then following that the distressing news that Blue Palms Brewhouse might be forced out of their location through no fault of theirs.

Thankfully, the beer community has rallied to the aid of one of our favorite beer spots and the new landlord has given a three day extension to work things out after seeing the outpouring of support. The hope is that they won’t have to close down and find a new location after building such a loyal clientele in the Hollywood community.

I was there last night because, if it was the last day, I wanted to occupy Blue Palms one more time. I ordered up a Sierra Nevada Beer Camp beer called The Dude. A cherry accented brown ale. Quite nice and fitting since the first Beer Camp beer that I ever had was at this spot. It was good to see a large crowd there including the Steeler fans who were not having a good day.

To stay in a celebratory mood, I cracked open an expensive wish list beer. Almanac 2011 Plum Ale. It was good and lived up to the price and my high expectations. I have now added their Blackberry beer to my wants/needs list.

If you haven’t paid your respects, I strongly suggest heading over on one of these three nights to show the powers that be that a new agreement would be beneficial to everyone.