USA, WA: Rogue Brewing announces closing of Issaquah brewpub

As growth in the craft beer segment has slowed over the past couple of years, breweries have looked at a number of solutions in effort to continue the double-digit growth that they had become accustomed to through the early 2000s, KPCnews.com reported on March 12.

One solution that seemed to work for many breweries was to create satellite breweries, tap rooms and restaurants outside of their original location, state and even country. However, a recent wave of tap rooms and bar closings by some of the biggest and oldest craft brewers seem to indicate that this trend is ending.

One of the oldest craft breweries, Rogue Brewing of Newport, Oregon, has announced the closing of their brewpub in Issaquah, Washington (about 310 miles northeast of Rogue’s headquarters). This brewpub had been in operation since 2001. Rogue continues to operate eight total locations, all within the state of Oregon. Rogue president Dharma Tamm wrote in a statement released on Facebook, “This was a very difficult decision, but unfortunately rising costs have made it apparent that it is our best option to close the Issaquah Brewhouse in order to better focus on our other public houses and production.”

Danish brewer Mikkeller has closed their taproom in the South Park district of downtown Los Angeles, just following the third anniversary party on Feb. 22. There are still 48 branded Mikkeller throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. The former Los Angeles location and a Mikkeller Bar in San Francisco are owned by Chuck Stilphen. The website Eater LA obtained an email sent to the staff of Mikkeller L.A. stating, “Mikkeller DTLA has lost money every month since it opened three years ago. I’ve exhausted all my money and credit lines covering payroll, rent, etc. I’ve been doing everything I can to keep the place open.”

Stone Brewing of Escondido, California has grown into an international brand, yet that has not completely translated into oversees success. A year ago, Stone sold off its 42,000-square-foot and $30 million brewery in Berlin, Germany after just a couple of years in operation. This week, Stone has announced the closing of its two-year-old taproom in Shanghai, China will be permanent. The initial, temporary closing was due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Co-founder and executive chairman Greg Koch said in a statement, “We faced challenges over the past year with dramatically increased tariffs, and now the coronavirus. Both factors had a significant impact on our ability to further invest in the market as planned.” Stone still operates two breweries in the U.S., with headquarter in Escondido, California, as well as an East Coast brewery in Richmond, Virginia, plus eight other retail locations within California.

Constellation, the parent company of Corona Beers, was looking for 2020 to be a big year for the Mexican beer brand. A $40 million advertising campaign is just beginning to launch a new line of Corona-branded hard seltzers. And then, the coronavirus becomes the biggest news story in early 2020.

Plenty of jokes and memes have become common with the name similarity. (Man with Coronavirus seeks woman with Lyme Disease and surgical masks over all the beers other than Corona in a cooler.) Google trends have shown spikes of searches for “Corona beer virus.” Stories of a drop in sales of Corona beers seem to be inaccurate or false, as Constellation reported Corona Extra sales grew 5% in the U.S. year-over-year in the four-week period ending Feb. 16.

Constellation has come under some criticism for their campaign for the new Corona seltzer, using the phrase, “Coming Ashore Soon.” This ad on Twitter garnered responses that it was in “poor taste” and the brand should “lay low for a few weeks.”

Time will tell if this similarity in names will have any lasting effect on the brand.

13 March, 2020