USA, PA: Guild Hall Brewing Co. forced to close only four months after opening

Guild Hall Brewing Co., which opened only four months ago on York Road in Jenkintown, has announced via Facebook that it will close after Saturday, Oct. 31, philly.com reported on October 29.

Management invited friends to give Guild Hall "a proper sendoff."

"We don't know what the future holds, but we live in hope that this is not goodbye forever!" the post reads.

"Thank you to all the guests and friends who made it wonderful while it lasted. Thank you, too, to our incredible, loyal staff. We love you and we will miss you."

"Kegs will be available for a limited time."

The gorgeous brewpub, in a Horace Trumbauer-designed onetime Rolls-Royce showroom next to the Hiway Theater, is owned by Owen Hutchins, who in 1997 became the first head brewer at the former General Lafayette Inn in Lafayette Hill, and his wife, Jennifer McGuire.

“What it boiled down to was that it took us so long to get open,” McGuire said, adding that they were six or seven months beyond even their most pessimistic projections. “We were over budget and ran out of capital. It’s pretty straightforward.”

McGuire cited “bumps at the start. Our first beers were not great.”

She said they did not realize that their 7-barrel tanks were out of calibration by five-eighths of a barrel. “We wondered, ‘Why can’t we make gravity?’ Once we went in with a flow meter, they improved. I can tell you that we have stuff in the tanks that is going to be freakin’ awesome, but it’s heartbreaking – no one will taste them.”

Add to that soft sales and a misperception that parking is scarce, and they are tapped, she said.

They’re hopeful to find an investor “to help us reboot” or a buyer. “But for now, we’re closing,” she said.

30 October, 2015