Fans of historic breweries, such as San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company or Columbus, Ohio’s Hoster Brewing Company, have dreaded the news that the iconic beer brands would close.
When iconic craft brewery Anchor Brewing Company closed its operations in 2023, fans of the 127-year-old beer were devastated, including this writer, until a year later when Chobani yogurt CEO Hamdi Ulukaya purchased the company from Sapporo in 2024 saying he planned to revive the brand.
Two years later, however, Ulukaya has still not relaunched the brewery, and he has not set a restart date yet.
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Hoster Brewing closing its business
And now, iconic beer brand Hoster Brewing Company says it will permanently close its Columbus, Ohio-based brewery operations on Oct. 31, facing an increase in rent for its multi-year lease, rising operating costs, and changing consumer attitudes toward drinking alcohol.
The 190-year-old brewing company will continue to distribute Hoster wholesale kegged beer to bars and restaurants through the end of the year, or as long as supplies last, the company said in a statement.
“After several years of serving our community, and after much reflection, we have made the difficult decision to close the doors of the Hoster Brewing Company,” the statement said. “We hope you’ll come see us before we close and raise one last glass with us on or before Oct. 31st.”
Hoster Brewing Company was founded in the Columbus Brewery District in 1836 by Louis Hoster and closed during Prohibition. The brand was revived in the 1990s as a brewpub on South High Street in Columbus, and again in 2024 with new stewardship on James Road, according to its website.
Brewer seeks a new home for brands
“We sincerely hope this is not the end of the Hoster legacy,” the Sept. 23 statement said. “We are open to looking for a new home for the Hoster brands, hopefully with another brewery.”
The company did not indicate whether it was seeking to sell the business.
Hoster will continue its brewpub events in October with its two-day Oktoberfest on Oct. 9, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Oct. 10, noon to 10 p.m.
Beer brand began in 1836
“We have been honored stewards of the Hoster legacy, which began in the Columbus Brewery District in 1836,” partner Dan Meyers said in a statement. “We hope we have done well to honor the traditions of this brand through genuine hospitality and brewing beer in the spirit of the original Hoster recipes such as Gold Top Lager, our award-winning flagship beer.”
In addition to its Gold Top Lager, Hoster brews Eagle Dark, a Czech-style dark lager; Vienna Lager, Hoster Light; Frostop, its in-house root beer, and several other European and American beer styles.
Anchor Brewing label approval
The return of Anchor Brewing, which was founded in 1896, may soon become a reality as the beer brand on April 30, 2026, received approval from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to use its original label design on its products.
Sapporo, which acquired Anchor Brewing Company in 2017, rebranded the brewery’s classic logo and labels with a new design and yellow color scheme in 2021, which fans of the beer despised.
“It makes sense that they’re going with the old labels because of that huge backlash when we did rebrand,” former Anchor Brewing worker Patrick Costello told KQED-TV in San Francisco. “Some people might think that it’s not a big deal, but it really was one of the nails in the coffin for us.”
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