Brewery Closures
Red Hare Brewing silently closes last location
Marietta, Georgia-based Red Hare Brewing seems to have quietly closed their last remaining sometime after the start of 2025.
Red Hare Brewing was founded in 2011 on Delk Road in Marietta, Georgia. In 2018, it opened a second location in Shallotte, North Carolina. In 2020, Red Hare announced they would take over the Hemingway’s Bar and Grill building on Marietta Square in the downtown area over the coming months.
The North Carolina facility shuttered in 2022 after four years.
Just about a year ago, in March 2024, founder Bobby Thomas announced the brewery would close the original Delk Road location due to costs and inflation and move production to a smaller location in the future.
The Marietta Square location remained open through at least New Year’s Eve going into 2025.
It seems that the Marietta Square location has also closed without any announcement. Google has marked this location permanently closed. Social media and Reddit discussions mention that the location hasn’t opened in weeks now, and the brewery website has been taken down.
Emails to the owner return as undeliverable.
Since the Delk Road closure, no official announcement has been made about a permanent closure or a new production facility.
Currently, Red Hare Brewing has no open facilities.
Best End Brewing closes New Year’s Day
Best End Brewing, located on Atlanta’s West End, announced the brewery’s closure to start 2025.
Best End Brewing announced on Instagram that it will close on January 1, 2025. The brewpub opened in August 2019.
Per Instagram:
It has been an honor to serve you since Best End Brewing Company opened in August 2019.
We’re proud to have weathered the pandemic and lasted beyond the odds, but we will officially close on January 1, 2025.
We’ll remain open through the end of 2024, and we’d love for you to join us for our final Mingle & Jingle, enjoy our house-brewed beers, and make a few more memories.
A heartfelt thank you to our amazing staff and to everyone who supported us-come raise a glass to the good times!Best End Brewing, December 2024.
Torched Hop Brewing closes on New Year’s Eve
Torched Hop Brewing will close on December 31st after 8 years in business.
Torched Hop Brewing opened in the building that was once the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Atlanta almost nine years ago. It will close on New Year’s Eve 2024.
Chris and Steven Bivens started Torched Hop in 2016. On Tuesday morning, they took to Instagram to announce the news.
“We are forever grateful to the team members who have put so much effort into making Torched Hop a special place. We are also thankful for the many regulars, friends, and family members who have supported us on this journey. It’s not the fairy tale ending we had hoped for. But we have created memories that will last a lifetime,” the owners wrote.
No reason was given for the brewery’s closure.
View this post on Instagram
Steady Hand Beer to close November 24th
Steady Hand Beer Co. has announced they are closing their doors on November 24, 2024.
Steady Hand Beer Co. opened six years ago on Atlanta’s Westside. The brewery announced the closure via Instagram.
“After nearly six years of pouring beers and building memories, we are sad to share that we are closing our doors this Sunday, November 24th, the post reads.
View this post on Instagram
A reason behind the sudden closure was not provided The images below were taken by Beer Street Journal at Steady Hand in February, 2019.
Pontoon Brewing closing October 28th
Atlanta-based Pontoon Brewing will close both their locations on October 28th.
As is pretty standard these days, Pontoon Brewing took to Instagram to announce the brewery will close their doors after their last scheduled event on October 28th. In the post, Pontoon blames a lack of payments from their main distributing partner for the brewery’s demise, stopping short of naming which distributor that has not paid the brewery.
With the current state of the economy, it’s been a bumpier ride than anticipated, but we continued to grow strike up new partnerships, grow our team, and shine bright! That said, due to one of our main distribution partners not paying us for our product, we are faced with a dire situation and are forced to temporarily close our doors while we find a new partner or buyer for the business.
Pontoon Brewing via Instagram
An email shared anonymously this week from an employee at Pontoon to unknown recipients, was much more direct, stating “Pontoon Brewing closing its doors.”
PICS: PONTOON BREWING’S 2ND ANNIVERSARY
Pontoon Brewing opened it’s doors in Sandy Springs, Georgia in January of 2018, and opening a 2nd location dubbed “The Lodge” in nearby Tucker, Georgia in September 2022.
Messages to Pontoon Brewing were not immediately returned.
Below, Beer Street Journal images of Pontoon Brewing’s ribbon cutting ceremony from January 2018.
Birds Fly South Ale Project to close October 10th
Greenville, South Carolina’s Birds Fly South has announced they will close on October 10th, 2023.
Shawn and Lindsay Johnson started Birds Fly South Ale Project 7 years ago in the Hampton Station area of Greenville, South Carolina. The couple met and married while Shawn was in the Coast Guard in Clearwater, Florida. Shortly after getting married, the opportunity came for the Johnsons to move to either Hawaii or Alaska and they chose Alaska. As you can imagine, the weather in America’s 49th state isn’t as conducive to outdoor activities as Florida, so they took up brewing beer. Indoors.
A few years later, the family transferred back to Florida, and that’s where Shawn & Lindsay’s brewing career really took off. From the first time Beer Street Journal met Shawn, he always spoke so highly of his brewing mentor, Bob Sylvester, founder of St. Somewhere Brewing in Tampa, Florida.
Before Greenville, there was a stop in Washington D.C., putting in time assisting in the opening of Fair Winds Brewing Company, then getting transferred to South Carolina.
Last night, Shawn and Lindsay announced on Instagram the brewery would close after their final jazz event on October 10th.
We wish that this was a fairy tale ending, but recognize all good things must come to an end. Timing is everything, and we embarked on an expansion to increase our taproom sales that have taken a hit over the last year. We don’t regret that decision, only the way we went about it.
The silver lining is that we are able to step away from the stress of running a business to have more time to focus on our family. This is our opportunity to embark on a new adventure and enjoy a new pace of life.Birds Fly South via Instagram
On a personal note, Shawn and Lindsay, as well as the entire brewery crew and fans they call “The Flock” are some of the kindest, outgoing, family-focused breweries I’ve ever been to. Their wild ale Skin & Bone is still one of the best of its kind In the southeast. It’s heartbreaking to hear this brewery won’t be there on the next trip to Greenville.
Below are some pics from Beer Street Journal’s first visit to Birds Fly South, featuring Shawn, Lindsay, and family back in August of 2016.
Anderby Brewing & Distilling announces closure
Anderby Brewing & Distilling, based in Peachtree Corners, Georgia announced they will close effectively July 3rd after five years of operation. According to an Instagram post announcement, revenues never reached the levels the brewery had hoped.
Unfortunately, due a variety of circumstances, revenues have never reached a level where our operation can sustain itself. We have personally given everything we have; money, sweat, tears, health, etc. to keep things going. While we know there are a lot of great things coming to our area that we were excited to be a part of, we have nothing left to give.
via Instagram
Anderby Brewing is another in a line of recent brewery closures in Georgia – including Orpheus Brewing, Burnt Hickory Brewing, Second Self Brewing, Tantrum Brewing, and Sabbath Brewing.
