USA, CA: Rocky Hill Brewing shutting its doors forever

One of Exeter’s most beloved local breweries is shutting their doors in coming weeks, the Foothills Sun Gazette reported on October 7.

Rocky Hill Brewing owner, Ben Litwack announced over social media on October 5 that he is closing his Exeter location at the end of the month if not sooner. Even worse he closed his Fresno restaurant and bar on October 4. That location opened earlier this year.

Litwack said in the meantime he will be preparing the last few batches of beer.

“This wasn’t an easy decision but at the end of the day we were left with the choice of closing now and realizing our losses or closing later and losing even more,” Litwack wrote on the companies’ social media accounts.

While businesses have shuttered in light of stay-at-home orders and COVID-19, Litwack said that was not necessarily the reason he decided to permanently close his doors.

“I’d love to blame it entirely on COVID-19 but this business was difficult from day one and we were losing money long before the shelter-in-place order,” Litwack said. “Setting up the second location in Fresno was our attempt to stop those losses by selling more beer in house but instead of being a money make, it, like the Exeter location became a money loser.”

Ultimately, Litwack said that it came down to bad timing in an industry that’s difficult to navigate even in the best of times.

“We’d like to thank you all for the good times and for your continuing support and for making the last three and a half years fun despite the constant struggles that we faced,” Litwack said. “Sharing our beer with you gave us the inspiration we needed to keep trying until the end.”

08 October, 2020