USA, NY: Saratoga Brewing Company shuts down

The Saratoga Brewing Company has shut down, The Daily Gazette reported on January 16.

A company official on site at the Saratoga Springs brewery said on January 16 that he could not discuss the situation until parent company Mendocino Brewing issues a statement, and he was not sure when that would be.

There was no answer at Mendocino’s headquarters in California on January 16, and the company's voicemail box was unable to accept messages.

Brooklyn-based Braven Brewing Co. described the situation in dire terms in an Instagram post saying Saratoga Brewing gave Braven 72 hours to remove its packaging materials, ingredients and finished beer from the Excelsior Avenue facility, where Braven’s beers were brewed under contract.

Braven said its employees drove up to the brewery to remove tens of thousands of dollars worth of kegs, caps, hops and beer from Saratoga Brewing. Braven indicated that Ipswich Ale Brewery in Massachusetts would be brewing Braven's beer in the future.

On January 16, Wachusett Brewing Company had a tanker truck on site, apparently conducting a similar evacuation.

"It's always a sad day when we see a business go out," Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly said. "The economic impact will be felt. Hopefully we can work to get them either back in the building or get another brewery in there."

Saratoga Brewing was formed in 1997 and grew to be one of the biggest independent breweries in New York state, and one of the busiest contract brewers.

Mendocino Brewing just last week closed its landmark taproom in Ukiah, California, without explanation, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. The newspaper’s report cast the move as the latest symptom of problems for a company that has been struggling financially for years.

16 January, 2018