The craft beer industry has continued to battle the financial distress caused by the effects from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Brewers Association’s 2023 annual report released on April 16 showed that the overall U.S. beer market shrank by 5.1% in volume last year.
The association had some good news, however, as it reported that the amount of operating breweries slightly increased in 2023 to 9,906 compared to 9,824 in 2022. While 495 new breweries opened, another 418 breweries closed at about a 4% rate, the report said.
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Craft breweries have been hit hard since the pandemic with 346 breweries closing in 2020, 178 in 2021 and another 319 closing in 2022, according to data firm Statista.
San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing, one of the best known and highly regarded independent craft breweries since its founding in 1896, filed Chapter 11 in July 2023 and shut down operations. Several smaller craft brewers also filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months including Flying Fish Brewing of Pennsylvania, Guanella Pass Brewing of Colorado, Zydeco Brew Werks of Florida and Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing of New Jersey.
Beer is not the only alcoholic beverage segment that is struggling as spirits supplier sales in 2023 were flat at a 0.2% increase, while volumes rose 1.2%. Those mild sales figures may have carried over to 2024, as Colorado-based Lee Spirits Co., a distiller of premium gin, vodka and liqueurs, on March 8 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado after shutting down all operations four days earlier, including its Colorado Springs tasting room, Brooklyn’s on Boulder Street.
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The Monument, Colo.-based distiller on March 4 revealed on social media that it had ceased operations as it could not overcome the prolonged impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and “the ever-changing industry landscape.”
Montana Distillery files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The trend of spirits companies filing bankruptcy continued as Montana Distillery, which produces a dozen varieties of vodka, gin and whiskey, on April 29 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana, four years after relocating to another city to hopefully cut expenses and survive.
The Stevensville, Mont., distiller listed up to $50,000 in assets and $500,000 to $1 million in liabilities in its petition. Its largest unsecured creditors included the U.S. Small Business Administration, owed $523,421, and the Internal Revenue Service, owed $161,342.
The debtor faced rising costs and property taxes and decreased revenues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic when it pulled up stakes at its Missoula, Mont., distillery business, relocated to Stevensville in August 2020 and opened its tasting room on Christmas Eve 2020, KYSS FM Radio reported.
The distillery made it almost four years before negative economic factors apparently pushed the company to file bankruptcy.
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Montana Distillery makes 10 different flavors of vodka, including its smooth Woody Creek Premium Vodka, Bacon Vodka, Cherry Vanilla Vodka, Cucumber Flavored Vodka, Ginger Vodka, Huckleberry Vodka, Pepper Vodka, Raspberry Vodka, Vanilla Vodka and Coffee Vodka. It also features Fallen Dove Gin and Careless Creek Red Sheep whiskey in its tasting room.
The distillery’s website includes a page for Events, which shows no events currently, and an Online Store page, which says “Coming Soon.”
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