Beer: Brewery Closures

This year there is, like no other time, a level of uncertainty for pubs, breweries and beer drinkers. 2022 was not a vintage year, with 83 breweries closing their doors for the last time and this year seems to be following a similar trend, with 6 closing during the first 4 weeks.

Many that rode the post-Covid wave, where demand for packaged beer was at its highest, are now seeing an unprecedented increase in the cost of raw ingredients, a reality of having to pay back grants and loans and consumers cutting back on such luxury items.

Breweries closing is not something that we are used to seeing and there have been some notable casualties. Wild Beer probably stands out, having just celebrated a 10-year anniversary, raised over 1.5 million in crowdfunding and had a good presence in supermarkets.

Cloudwater Brewery, from a distance, looks untouchable. It’s seen as one of the market leaders in the UK, yet their CEO announced on the BBC that he is having sleepless nights about running the business and has, on several occasions, considered closing down. Their beer range has evolved; gone are the