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Duck Rabbit Brewery closes after 20 years

Duck Rabbit Brewery has closed after 20 years in Farmville, North Carolina.

Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery, a fixture of North Carolina’s craft beer scene since 2004, has ended its 20-year run. The Farmville-based brewery, best known for its Milk Stout and Continue Reading →

Posted in Don't Miss This

Brew at the Zoo Atlanta: Lions, Tigers & Beers

Brew at the Zoo Atlanta 2025 is tonight. good time for a quick photo gallery throwback

As the sun dipped below the Atlanta skyline on May 27, 2023, Zoo Atlanta transformed into a hop-fueled jungle for the annual Brew at the Zoo, a tradition that had beer lovers dealing with the early summer heat to drink and see exotic animals. This 21-and-up extravaganza brought together craft breweries with good snacks and music. It’s not often you drink while the staff feeds giraffes and tigers.

Brew at the Zoo is one of the most unique events in Atlanta. Every sip supported Zoo Atlanta’s conservation efforts, while drinking and getting a little wild. Pun intended.

Today, May 24, 2025, the zoo is at it again, hosting another round of Brew at the Zoo, and we’re betting it’s just as wild. It’s probably one of the Atlanta’s best beer-soaked, animal-loving parties. Cheers to brews and beasts.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Closures, Don't Miss This, Duck Rabbit Brewery

Duck Rabbit Brewery closes after 20 years

Duck Rabbit Brewery has closed after 20 years in Farmville, North Carolina.

Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery, a fixture of North Carolina’s craft beer scene since 2004, has ended its 20-year run. The Farmville-based brewery, best known for its Milk Stout and Baltic Porter, cited mounting financial pressures as the reason for its closure.

Founded by Paul Philippon, a former philosophy professor, Duck Rabbit made dark beers its primary focus. At its peak, the brewery was distributed across six states and produced an estimated 3,000 barrels annually. By contrast, the town of Farmville, North Carolina, had a population of 4,546 in 2023.

The closure was driven by rising costs of hops, malt, and packaging, as well as supply chain disruptions and shifting consumer preferences toward seltzers and low-alcohol options.

The brewery’s name, “Duck Rabbit,” was inspired by the rabbit-duck illusion, an ambiguous drawing that can be seen as either a rabbit or a duck. First published in 1892, the image sparks philosophical discussions about perception, reflecting Philippon’s roots as a philosophy professor.

Duck Rabbit’s assets will be sold at auction to pay off outstanding debts. The brewery’s final weekend of operation was April 26–27, 2025, marking the end of its legacy in Farmville.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Closures, Cycle Brewing, Don't Miss This

Florida’s Cycle Brewing ends 12 year run this month

Cycle Brewing will close their St. Petersburg, Florida brewery this month after 12 years of operation.

One of Florida’s most beloved breweries, Cycle Brewing, and St. Petersburg’s first craft brewery, will close this month, founder Doug Dozark announced in a post on X. A British-themed Green Turtle Brewery will replace it at the same location.

Cycle Brewing’s journey began in 2009 in Gulfport, where Dozark brewed beer in his mother’s restaurant kitchen on weekends while working at Cigar City Brewing. It launched in St. Pete in 2013, with now-legendary beers like Rare Dos, Cream and Sugar, and Crank, plus popular “Days of the Week”-named beers. The brewery is waiting to sell its lease at 534 Central Avenue, which ends on May 31, 2026, to the Green Turtle Brewery. The brewing equipment, taproom, and bar are included in the lease transfer.

The beer industry is facing a clear downturn. The Brewers Association’s 2024 report noted that 2024 was the first year since 2005 when the number of U.S. craft breweries declined, dropping to 9,680 from 9,747 in 2023. Both craft and macro beer volumes also fell over the past year.

Dozark has stated multiple times, including in Instagram Live videos, that craft beer, particularly Cycle Brewing’s distinctive style, no longer holds the same appeal as it did years ago. He is deeply disillusioned.

Thanks to Cycle’s barrel-aging program, Dozark plans to sell remaining barrel-aged beers at a retail location after the taproom closes.

Dozark has not shared his plans after Cycle Brewing closes.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Closures, Don't Miss This, Jekyll Brewing

Jekyll Brewing to cease all operations May 11th

Jekyll Brewing will close all locations and cease operations on Sunday, May 11, 2025.

Jekyll Brewing will close all their locations and cease all operations as of May 11th, according to founder Michael Lundmark.

Jekyll Brewing, opened their first location in Alpharetta, Georgia in 2013, a taproom dubbed the “Marconi Taproom.” (Presumably named for Marconi Drive on which it resides, not Guglielmo Marconi known for radio waves.) That brewery is the birthplace of one of Georgia’s well-known IPAs – Hop Dang Diggity.

In 2018, Jekyll opened their second location on Academy Street in downtown Alpharetta. The location hosted a larger taproom and brewery with 14 taps, food kitchen, plus a rooftop bar.

Gainesville, Georgia was the home of the brewery’s third location in February of 2020 on Larry Lane. The location was home to 20 taps, event space as well as a full-service kitchen.

In February 2025, Jekyll ceased all keg production, launching an industry rumor mill of impending closure. On Cinco De Mayo 2025, Lundmark made the official announcement on a local Facebook group that all locations would officially close on May 11th after 12 years.

Below, a Beer Street Journal video shot shortly after Jekyll Brewing opened in 2013.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Don't Miss This

5Church Midtown new menu media preview

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Don't Miss This, New Releases, Schlafly Brewing

Schlafly releases passionfruit spin on ‘Tasmanian IPA’

Schlafly Imperial Passionfruit Tasmanian IPA debuts as April winds down.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Schlafly Beer has released a passionfruit-infused version of their Tasmanian IPA to kick off summer 2025.

By our best recollections, Tasmanian IPA was first released back in 2010 using Galaxy hops after brewery members to a trip to Tasmania. According to David Schlafly, brewery CEO, “this release builds on the legacy of our ground-breaking Tasmanian IPA, which is one of the first in the nation to showcase Australian-grown Galaxy hops, by adding vibrant passionfruit for a tropical twist, he says.

Schlafly Imperial Passionfruit Tasmanian IPA is 9% alcohol by volume, available in 12-ounce cans and draft through the end of the summer

Style: Imperial IPA (w/ Passionfruit.)
Hops: Galaxy, Topaz

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Seasonal Release.
Debut: April 2025

9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Don't Miss This, Galleries, New Releases, Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada Premium PILS launches in select markets

Sierra Nevada Premium PILS Lager is debuting across select markets across this U.S. this week.

In Atlanta last evening, a team from Sierra Nevada as assembled at The Ramspeck (Brick Store Pub’s private event space) to debut a new beer. While the brewery is most known for whole-cone hop forward offerings, this beer you could say is a departure from the hops- a Premium PILS Lager.

A year in the making.

For more than a year, Sierra Nevada VP Brian Grossman, Brewery supervisor Seth Hewitt, Innovation brewer Matt Ruzich and team have been developing a new pilsner – a future national offering that Sierra Nevada hopes mays set a standard for the style in U.S. In the past, Sierra has released a pilsner here and there – Nooner Pilsner back in 2014, and seasonal Summerfest. Good beers in their own right, but the grander vision was a more “elevated” pilsner. Hence why “premium” is a part of the branding.

History + Quality.

The team focused heavily on the brewing history on pilsners, especially water chemistry, hops and yeast. Premium PILS is features Weihenstephaner yeast, and newer hop variety Saphir (German bred), and Pilsner malts with a touch of Carapils malt. Throughout Sierra’s presentation, the brewers focused on quality. Something the brewery is well-known for, and it definitely shows in Premium PILS. It’s soft, and crisp, with just a tinge of underlying hoppiness, and only 4.7% alcohol by volume. Whether or not the brewery intended it, they are setting a new standard for craft pilsners going forward.

Markets.

For now, Sierra Nevada Premium PILS is available on draft in 30 markets: Orlando,Jacksonville, Atlanta, Chicago, Portland, Maine, Las Vegas, Reno, NYC, Rhode Island, Denver, Boise, New Orleans, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cleveland, Portland/Eugene/Medford, Dallas/Ft.Worth, Milwaukee & Madison, Wisconsin, Bay Area/Sacramento/Chico, California, St. Louis, Charlotte/Asheville/Winston-Salem/Wilmington/Raleigh, North Carolina, South Carolina (All), Washington D.C.

For now, PILS is a year-round beer, expanding to more markets over the summer. Expect it to hit a very unique package in late-summer 2025.

Below, scenes from the media release party in Atlanta.

Ed note: Article was updated 4/21 to mention PILS is a year-round beer at launch.

by Reid Ramsay