At least 117 brewery and taproom locations closed or are closing in 2026
At least 117 brewery and taproom locations in 33 states closed, announced a closing or filed for bankruptcy in 2026, by a row-by-row read of our records. Many of them are a single taproom or satellite of a brewer that is still in business, so this is a count of places, not of companies going under. Pennsylvania has the most (11), followed by California (10), Michigan (9) and Colorado (8). Six more closings are still ahead this year, in Grand Junction, CO; Columbus, OH; Alabaster, AL; Oak Park, MI; Berkeley, CA; and Chillicothe, OH.
Why they are closing
The owners give a handful of reasons, and the same ones keep coming up.
- Retirement. Kannah Creek's owners, Jim and Bernadette Jeffryes, "said multiple factors culminated in a tough but necessary decision to retire," the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported. Triple Rock in Berkeley is closing "as co-founders and brothers John and Reid Martin look to wind down their business operations as they approach retirement," Patch reported. Unexpected Craft's owners in Oak Park, MI "announced the closing as they plan to retire," Patch reported.
- Money. Siluria's owner said "financial decisions made in the early days of the brewery began putting strain on the business in March 2025," AL.com reported. Fifty West "will not renew its lease for its Chillicothe location, citing financial difficulties," the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.
- Taprooms, not breweries. Many of the closings are one taproom of a brewer that keeps brewing, selling and running its other locations. Fifty West is one: it is closing its Chillicothe taproom, not its Cincinnati brewery.
Closings still ahead
| Brewery | Place | Closing date |
|---|---|---|
| Kannah Creek Brewing Company | Grand Junction, CO | Saturday, Oct. 24 |
| Hoster Brewing Co. | Columbus, OH | Oct. 31 |
| Siluria Brewing Co. | Alabaster, AL | Nov. 13 |
| Unexpected Craft Brewing Company | Oak Park, MI | "toward the end of this year" |
| Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse | Berkeley, CA | "at the end of the year" |
| Fifty West Brewing Co. (Chillicothe taproom) | Chillicothe, OH | "by the end of 2026" |
Dates are as each source gives them. Hoster said it will keep distributing kegged beer "until the end of 2026 or until its supply runs out," the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The big brands
Two large brewers owned by global beer companies are pulling back too. They are not in the count above, which covers craft breweries and taprooms.
- Guinness Open Gate Brewery, Halethorpe, MD (Diageo) "is closing its doors to the public in November," Patch reported.
- Stone Brewing, Escondido, CA (Sapporo USA): Sapporo "is shuttering three Stone Brewing facilities in California," Food Dive reported, adding that "the craft beer market has changed, and Sapporo sales grew robustly while demand for craft options decreased."
Where they are
| State | Locations |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 11 |
| California | 10 |
| Michigan | 9 |
| Colorado | 8 |
| Florida | 6 |
| North Carolina | 5 |
| Ohio | 5 |
| Texas | 5 |
| Wisconsin | 5 |
| Kentucky | 4 |
| Maine | 4 |
| New York | 4 |
| Virginia | 4 |
| Alabama | 3 |
| Connecticut | 3 |
| Maryland | 3 |
| Rhode Island | 3 |
| Tennessee | 3 |
| Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Utah | 2 each |
| Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington | 1 each |
What we counted
We read every brewery, brewpub and taproom record in our file one by one against its source. We count a location when its source says it closed, announced a closing or filed for bankruptcy in 2026. We left out:
- relocations, rebrands, ownership changes and temporary closings;
- bankruptcies where the source says the business keeps operating;
- closings from 2025 or with no year in the source;
- names that appear only on a list with no detail;
- cases where the source leaves unclear whether it is a closing or a pause;
- production sites of national beer brands.
A brewer with several closed locations counts once per location. A closing date is printed only where a source states one.
This is a floor, not a total. Many small taprooms close without a news story. We don't hold a count of all U.S. breweries, so we can't give a share or a rate.
This page will be updated as more closings are recorded. Each update will be dated in the changelog below.
Updated: October 12, 2026
Changelog: first published with 117 locations in 33 states, from the 2026-10-10 edition.
Cities and dates are from the sources; street addresses are held for subscribers. As of October 12, 2026.