USA, MD: Pariah Brewing shuts down after 7 years

Employees of Pariah Brewing were carrying armloads of beer to their cars Friday, April 5th morning as owners for the business announced it would shut down its operations, The Baltimore Banner reported.

“We honestly should have closed a year ago. The toll this has taken is immeasurable,” co-owner Brian Mitchell wrote in an Instagram post announcing the decision Friday morning.

Mitchell launched the business with wife Christa in San Diego in 2017 before relocating to Baltimore in 2022. Its Hampden brewery was previously home to Union Craft Brewing, which is now based in Medfield. The owners could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pariah marks just the latest in a series of Maryland breweries and beer makers to shut their doors. Craft brewer Full Tilt closed down in 2023, while Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, ended manufacturing in its Halethorpe facility last year. Flying Dog, formerly headquartered in Frederick, sold to a company in New York and transferred its operations there.

“I could list a very long list why any brewery would close in 2024,” an owner for neighboring Waverly Brewing Company wrote in a Friday Facebook post expressing support for the Mitchells and for Pariah. “But today that’s not important....Cheers to Pariah, its staff, and to Christa & Brian.”

The beer industry as a whole has seen a downturn in recent years as younger audiences are increasingly interested in nonalcoholic beers and beer alternatives like hard seltzers and canned cocktails.

12 April, 2024