Brian Dailey could not believe the number was real. After more than a decade operating Scorpion Brewing in eastern Maryland, the building he leased was sold to a new owner in late 2023. That new owner proposed raising his rent by a staggering 238%. When negotiations went nowhere, Dailey opted to close the brewery. Last call came this past St. Patrick’s Day. There are nearly 10,000 breweries operating in the United States, and many of them rent the warehouses or storefronts that house their equipment and taprooms. Since the beginning of 2024, quite a few have taken to social media to announce closures, citing landlord issues as the primary reason. It seems the era of good will that existed during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which some rents were lowered or forgiven, is over. Some brewers say landlords are making up for that time with astronomical rent increases and bad-faith deals. Landlord Squabbles and a Covid Hangover “We have vigorously tried to sign a lease extension with our landlord to no avail, as our next-door neighbor has leased out the space from underneath us,” wrote Jamie Queli of New Jersey’s Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing in a January Facebook post. “We are extremely disappointed and quite frankly, appalled at the actions of both companies and their adamant refusals to negotiate with us.” The brewery closed at the end of February. More recently, Little Animals Brewery in Johnson City, Tennessee, closed its doors following a rough patch that continued past COVID as a result of issues with city water quality, which prevented him from brewing beer, and construction. “Because of that, we fell behind on rent, unfortunately,” says Cates. “I’m not totally absolved of anything here, because you don't want to be behind on rent, but fortunately, our landlord is also my business partner's father. So, at the time, he said not to worry about rent. But the thing about being behind on rent is, once you're behind, unless you're making enough money to pay double rent in a month, you're perpetually behind.” Eventually, the situation became untenable. Payments were due, and Cates’s landlord filed notice that he was going to increase the rent as well. Cates had to walk away. To future brewers, he recommends getting any agreements with a landlord in writing. “Because everything between me and [the landlord] had been handshake deals,” he says. Changing Neighborhoods In Florida, Matt Manthe of Odd Breed Wild Ales in Pompano Beach, Florida, is winding down operations. His landlord is in negotiations to sell the brewery’s building to the city; the plan calls for the demolition of the building to make way for two high-rise condos. “A few years ago, my business partner and I actually approached the property owner looking to buy this space,” Manthe says. The offer was declined. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have purchased a property, not rented one.” An hour to the south in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, Jonathan Wakefield, who opened J Wakefield Brewing in 2015, recently announced he would be moving out of his current location. The well-regarded spot, known for its comic book and sci-fi wall art, slings big imperial stouts and fruited kettle sour ales. But the neighborhood has become one of the more desirable areas in the city, and a construction boom has changed the landscape. “We're at a point now where we just got priced out,” he said recently on the Steal This Beer podcast. He plans to continue the brand, keeping beers in the market that are brewed at other locations until he can find a spot to buy that will “give us more function and space to breathe easier and not have to worry about landlords.” It’s a similar situation in Durham, North Carolina, where Sean Lilly Wilson, the founder of Fullsteam Brewery, is moving out of the Rigsbee Avenue location it’s called home since 2010. The “current landlord has proposed a rent increase that is untenable for a manufacturing facility,” Lilly Wilson says. “Currently, as structured, our lease ends in June 2025,” he wrote in a social media post detailing the upcoming closing dates for the kitchen and taproom at the current location. Brewing will continue through next year, while the operation looks for a new location to brew and host customers. “We are working with our landlord to see if there's a future for us at 726 Rigsbee in any capacity, but their initial proposal was extraordinarily expensive. At this point, we don't know.” Looking to the Future Those affected by these recent challenges say future brewer owners should seriously consider long-term plans and budgets. While it’s not always possible for a brewery to purchase its own property, doing so could save big money in the long run. Brewery infrastructure can require tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of investment. When that instructure is installed on a property over which one ultimately has no control, the consequences can be dire—and we’re seeing them play out in real time as breweries continue to close. And yet, despite many current struggles, it’s hard to keep a good brewer down. In Nashville, Embrace the Funk, the wild beer and barrel program at Yazoo Brewing Company, is vacating its longtime warehouse space after the landlord raised the current rent. But it’s been moving its assets—including gargantuan barrels called foeders, which Embrace the Funk has strapped to the backs of pick-up trucks and driven up highways—to the brewery’s main campus in nearby Madison, Tennessee, where fermentation will continue. In addition, Fullsteam Brewery recently announced it was moving to its “forever Durham home” at the Boiler room of the historic American Tobacco Campus. The new 9,000-square-foot space will house a restaurant, bar, stage for live performances, private party areas and plenty of outdoor seating. Meanwhile, some of Dailey’s partners recently launched a new brewing venture in North Beach, Maryland, not too far away from Scorpion Brewing’s former location. But one can’t help but imagine a different outcome if things had shaken out differently. Dailey says he regularly drives past his brewery’s former home. The grass on the property is overgrown, the lot unkempt. The space remains vacant. 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