per their IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDyA8fby6_x/ Almost 9 years ago, we opened our doors and launched this ambitious project that is Brouwerij West in San Pedro. This brewery has been more than a business—it’s been our heart and soul, a gathering place, and a home away from home for so many. You all have filled our tasting room and courtyard with so many great memories. You have always embraced our unique style, celebrated our creativity, and stood by us through thick and thin. For that, we will be forever grateful. That said, it looks like the time has come to say goodbye. We’re doing everything we can to see if we can figure out a way to continue to be a part of the San Pedro community, but short of a holiday miracle, we only have a short time left here - maybe a month or two, we’ll post more info as we know it. Craft brewers like us have faced a very challenging market post-Covid - changing social habits, shifting consumer preferences, rising costs. These obstacles have made it difficult for us to execute and fulfill our vision for what we hoped we could do and ultimately become. We put so much love, passion and effort into Brouwerij West, and we are sad that our time in this community will be coming to end. While this is extremely hard for us, we want to make the most of what look to be our last days here. If you are here weekly, or you haven’t visited in a while, come down and have another beer - or hard seltzer or slushie or Michelada - with us - we have a lot of kegs you need to help us finish! Or join us for Trivia Night or karaoke, buy tickets to our December 27th La Bota, come party with us on New Year’s Eve or at one of the last blowout concerts we’ll be announcing, or simply leave a kind comment on social media. Any and all support is appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this message, and we appreciate all the love that has defined the last 9 years of Brouwerij West in San Pedro. Cheers to you all, Brian, Dave, and the entire Brouwerij West team ###
I honestly forgot about them, seen their cans around but always the same core beers. None the less, Popfuji was delicious and a breath of fresh air when it came out.
This is a total bummer. I remember the gypsy brewing days of Saison Extra and Dog Ate My Homework. That building they have is beautiful in San Pedro, and figured they signed a pretty long lease to keep the rent low. Doubting they are going to find a new spot in Pedro with the way the city is growing. I have heard through a couple people I still keep up with in the industry that a brewery in SD is currently canning off some of their cans to keep their placements they have that are set. Dig My Earth and Picnic Lightening were great beers and kind of changed the So Cal landscape for NE/Hazy IPAs when they came out and you were able to walk into a liquor store and grab them off the shelf. I think only Monkish and Mumford were really doing anything like it back then. Monkish was still really hard to get back then, and Mumford was still perfecting their methods on those. Ill have to visit sometime soon to see it one last time and have a few pints. Always really liked their beers, and the summer days on the patio were awesome.
Haven’t forgot about this important LA brewery. They were part of my beer options back in the days. I visited their SP location maybe a dozen times their first couple of years. I’ll admit I haven’t had anything from them the last several years, pre pandemic. So I can’t comment on their recent beers. But I thought they were more of an experimental brewery like Monks at the time. I was into hazy’s at the time too. Sorry to hear. When is their last day? December 27? Or the end of the month?
They haven't said yet. Their IG post says "but short of a holiday miracle, we only have a short time left here - maybe a month or two, we’ll post more info as we know it."
This one hurts. I don't visit their San Pedro location as much as I'd like since it's so out of the way, but it's a great space and I've never been disappointed by any of their beers. They were always a reliable choice whenever I'm out at a bar/bottle shop and didn't know what to get. Their efforts on keeping four-pack costs down while other places were raising prices went a long way. Hopefully this is more of a goodbye for now from them rather than a farewell.
I rarely drink Hazy’s. But I always liked Picnic Lightning. Damn shame. The San Pedro spot is so cool, too.
When I lived in Redondo it was a really fun place to visit, good beer. They hosted more than a few really cool festivals too.
OK, so now they are asking for 250k in donations on gofundme to stay open? Look, I have nothing against trying to figure out some business stuff, but 250k seems like a hefty amount of money when you have a full event space and relatively new brew equipment. This just kind of seems sketchy and maybe they got in over their heads with bills this past year?
hmm, yeah I don’t love that either. Aside from the fairly nebulous caveat they included about how they won’t keep/use the money unless they “have a clear plan on how to move forward”, if $250k doesn’t provide a lot of runway for them and they still might not have a way to function for the long term, what are people dumping all that money into?? That’s a good chunk of change to ask a small community to pony up and if they don’t know if that sum will make them viable for a while to come, that seems like a problem. It obviously sucks when breweries close but at the same time I don’t understand how these situations continuously seem to pop up where all of a sudden things are this dire and they’re going under in a short timeline.
That's a really weird fund raiser. No real clear goal, no benefits for donors, not even any clarity about what their issues are. This does not seem like a remotely appropriate use case for crowd funding.
One of my buddies said they sold off all their brewing equipment already? Does that sound right? Maybe this is fundraised for new brewing equipment, but seems like bad business decisions towards the end of this story.
Would there be a brewery here in CA that could take over that huge of a space? One that’s doing well and ready to expand? I heard that GC’s Oceanside location may stop brewing at that location and only brew at their Orange and Costa Mesa location. I was told only because I asked how come
A great name for a beer. Perhaps you know the source? Vladimir Nabokov in Lolita: “My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three, and, save for a pocket of warmth in the darkest past, nothing of her subsists within the hollows and dells of memory…”
I think they just set the $250,000 as an arbitrary number since it was at $15,000 by default. Although it'd be nice if they were able to spell out what they'd do with whatever money that is raised.
Damn, sad to see them pack up shop and head home. Used to buy a four pack of Picnic Lightning from time to time back in the days.
