USA, OH: Mucky Duck Brewing Co.’s owners shut down their brewery

Mucky Duck Brewing Co.’s owners have officially shut down their brewery, Cleveland.com reported on February 1.

“We were hoping to fade away quietly,” said Erica Antoniotti, who owned the brewery with her husband, Joe Wathey.

The brewery actually closed at the end of September, she said, but the sign came down recently because the lease was up Monday, Jan. 31.

Antoniotti and Wathey opened Nauti Vine Winery in 2013 and followed three years later with the brewpub across the street. The brewery initially covered 3,000 square feet and had an 80-person capacity at 4019 S. Main St. in the Portage Lakes area.

“It was really a business decision. It was going to be a three-year lease,” she said. “We just decided we don’t want to be in this business anymore. It’s kind of over-saturated in our town. People come, they get a sample or two, and they run off to the next brewery ‘cause they’re so many to see. The winery people seem to stay for a couple of hours and enjoy themselves.”

She stressed the closure wasn’t due to a Covid-specific cause but the brewery resulted in “too much work for the payoff.”

“The winery pretty much runs itself. The brewery is a lot of work. Staffing the kitchen is hard these days. That is Covid-related. We tried a couple of different efforts to bring in outside restaurant people. We had a couple of different barbecue restaurants come in and take over our kitchen for a while, and that was wonderful while it lasted, but they had the same problem – keeping staffing up,” she said.

Overall, though, closures have not kept pace with openings in the state, which has maintained a robust brewery scene despite the challenges brought on by Covid. About 393 breweries operate in the state, said Justin Hemminger of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association.

In 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, 47 breweries opened and 15 closed. In 2021, 48 opened and only six closed, Hemminger said.

For the future, Antoniotti and Wathey will concentrate on their winery, a fun respite in the Portage Lakes area.

“The winery’s doing great,” said Antoniotti, who said they are mulling expanding hours.

02 February, 2022