3 Floyds permanently closing Munster brewpub

Also it wasn’t as regularly packed recently (when it was still open) as in years past. I’ve also heard their staff costs were higher than normal for restaurants as they offered better benefits and pay on average.

Still seems odd it was losing money.

 

this dosent make any sense to me. if anything, they easily could have expanded the brewpub and made it something more in line with the spacious beerhall style taprooms you increasingly see in the city. i always felt their brewpub was a huge missed opportunity and while it was serviceable, it felt like they didnt really make an effort to green over the asphalt, add pleasant shaded outdoor space, make it bigger and more inviting, and reduce the reliance on people needing to drive in order to get there. like you had a huge organic movement growing of people cycling in from Chicago which coincided with improvements to cycling infrastructure on both sides of the state border, and they couldnt even be assed to install bike racks.

i dunno, it just feels like they must be really upside down on some things if this is what they needed to resort to. are they still planning on having a taproom? if so, does this mean it just wont include food? if so, that seems like an even worse idea.

 

They were going to attempt to do this at the cost of millions and millions of dollars. Seems like maybe that wont be the case anymore.

 

The news that they were closing made me go back and look up the article from a couple years ago about the expansion plans. Check out the artist renderings:

https://www.nwitimes.com/business/l...cle_c1df9f0c-2028-5b4a-9dde-9f558d072ffc.html

 

thats even more ambitious than i was picturing...i feel like they could have found a middle ground between Disneyland and nothing.

but yeah i do wonder if they got in over their heads on the distillery

 

No one bit on this though...

 

I had nothing but positive bartender interactions and that’s with me very obviously not being of the same style (music, appearance, etc) as their general ethos.

 

Yeah they did say those plans are on hold now. I doubt we will ever see them.

I'm guessing they spent a lot of money on the distillery and the new canning facility and decided to focus on distribution for now.

 

Not sure if I missed anyone else say it, but will there ever be another Dark Lord Day? Hard to be optimistic on that front

 

Just to be clear, what was the prior headline? Didn't they already announce they were shutting down the brewpub and had no plans to re-open it? Why is this news? If they decide to re-open it they will. This is just the FFF hype machine hard at work. If I'm the city of Munster, I don't give FFF a permit to host Dark Lord Day if they are just a production brewery. I wonder what Nick's plans are. If they want to try and consolidate around the larger brewery they bought a few years ago and eventually open a place there or not. To not have a brewpub once the pandemic passes is going to be a major mistake as people will want to go out and drink. I think we'll see a big slump in packaged beers.

 

looks very similar to the destination that Surly built a few years ago. I’ve been several times that that place has always been a zoo. I’m sure FFF could’ve had very similar success with their expansion

 

1- Close brewpub and pay out investors/profit shareholders ending agreement.
2- Open new $10 million dollar brewpub using low interest bank money being sole stakeholder.

 

That's exactly how I see it. A technicality/legal move. Maybe they move from Munster, but they just purchased that additional brewing space in the old Whole Foods building. There's more to this

 

Yes, and although Surly also closed indefinitely after employees decided to form a union, Surly has a much greater advantage due to the fact they are:

• Located in a large city.
• Located within walking distance of a 50,000 student university
• Also within walking distance of a 50,000 capacity football stadium
• And a 15,000 seat indoor stadium for rabid Gopher hockey and less rabid basketball fans.

I see this as a permanent closure of their original brewpub, with the possibility a new one may or may not be constructed within the next five years.

I'm sad because the brewpub experience was awesome (staff, beer, food, music). I will be drinking a lot less FFF beers, in part because I loved hitting the brewpub for their new beers and bringing a few cases back each trip. Between the cost and typical distribution of at times stale beer here beyond one off releases, I usually stick with purchases of fresh beer from Chicago brewers over seeking FFF beers.

Hope they are able to open a new brewpub within the next few years, maybe even converting/shutting down the distillery and/or having a brewpub in Chicago after the COVID is resolved.

 

the old 'act of god' /force majeure clause. This would make the most sense to me..continue distribution under the Three Floyds brand, wait a couple years and form a new LLC (under a very Three Floyds-esque name)..and maybe we have the Chicago brewpub people have talked about for 5-6 yrs.

 

except now theres like a million other brewpubs in the city with established fans and actual roots and community presences in their respective neighborhoods. i honestly dont think theres the same excitement or even need for a 3F flag in the city.

the market can only support so much and they kinda missed their opportunity over the past 10 year. there isnt the rabid devotion to their brand like there used to be (and when they were the only game in town). if anything the market feels saturated right now and i think theres more dominoes to fall. youre seeing Metropolitan running into big issues with their taproom space too.

 

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