Why do breweries close?

Thanks for sharing this. Raw emotions. A bit tough to listen to, he’s definitely proud of what he did accomplish, and chagrined about the declining sales. It sounds like when the adjoining barbecue business went out the foot traffic dropped. Location, location, location said somebody other than me.
The market correction in the beer industry is going on just about everywhere. Even Germany, lol.

 

I think he is making the right decision. I also hope he does not give up, takes some time to reflect and reengineer for his next try.

 

I watched part of the video. Sad to see someone without deep pockets get shut out.

 

I really felt bad for the businesses that had built up their customer base and also business neighboring with Metropolitan when they closed. The location was an incubator for such symbiotic relationships.

 

Reminds me of a local restaurant owned by a very talented chef. He took a location that had been home to many failed ventures, but failure was NOT due to the actual location. He started quietly, doing great food at reasonable prices, especially for the level of cuisine. Could have charged much more being in a DFW suburb. Word got out, people started coming, then kept coming and bringing friends and family. After about 1 1/2 years there was suddenly a very heartfelt letter posted on the door. Expressing his heartfelt appreciation to everyone who supported him, but the restaurant was taking too much of a toll on his family life. He chose what was most important.

You just never know what the "other reasons" might be.

 

That's gutsy opening a brewpub less than 10 miles, and just down the road, from a major competitor with a great taproom and huge name recognition (in the Northeast at least: Victory-Downingtown is less than 10 miles from Locust Lane). So location is important, but it's not everything.

 

Over a decade before YouTube went online, the late, great John Prine wrote a song about it QUIT HOLLERIN' AT ME

 

I know a couple that opened and closed a brewery. At their peak they were making $40k/yr after all was said and done, and they had a brewery that had great traffic. The wife still kept working as a part-time lawyer so they at least had health insurance.

Had they been taking home $200k/yr, they'd hold on as long as possible, at the very least could sell it to another owner.

So, it's probably still about the money.

 

What else? People with limited means, like the ones you reference, just want to make a real living, but can leave with nothing, possibly less than they invested. People with real money invest in brewing to make more money or have fun or both. They won't get much enjoyment out of the business if it means a lot of work and loses money anyway.

 

Razor-thin margins aren't for everyone. There's also the stress involved, plus the constant need to adjust to the tastes of the market - or the massive cost of taking the risk of being the trendsetter for new or forgotten styles.

 

There’s going to be a lot of breweries closing as we all can forecast, but I hope that the breweries bringing in a lot of foot traffic to a tap room or have owners with deep financial pockets but make bad beer can hire (at least part time) better brewmasters from the various failed breweries that pumped out quality beer. Discussing local breweries around the DMV area and stretching out into rural areas, it seems proximitely to affluent areas can be equal or more important to large population areas with middle/lower class folks. If you have to sell $8 house lagers to break even (which I find as almost the norm anymore), that 2 hrs out to have a few beers with my significant other can end up costing as much as a nice steak dinner (well a nice steak dinner from 5 years ago anyway). People just scraping by week to week aren’t going to be visiting regularly nor buying those $20 4 packs to go either.

 

There's a lot that you have to put in as the owner of any small business, much less one as tightly regulated as a brewery. If you aren't having fun and aren't making money, well, what else are you supposed to do?

 

Andy is a very likable person. Although I've never had the pleasure of trying his beers he chose a niche style in a small town. Although I generally enjoy Czech style beers it's a doomed business model from the start. Yes, most breweries now also have food but I can name multiple breweries near me that thrive without food offerings beyond scheduled food trucks. I have yet to see a brewery close that offers exceptional beer for their area. I wish Andy the best and hope to visit a Tanglefoot Brewery someday.