Heineken to close or sell its Schiltigheim brewery in France by 2025

France – Heineken’s list of brewery closures is getting longer. After Edinburgh’s Caledonian brewery, Belgium’s Affligem brewery, Romania’s Constanta brewery and the Dutch Brand brewery, Heineken now said it will shutter its brewery in Schiltigheim, one of France’s largest.

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Asahi closes its UK craft brewery Dark Star and moves production to Meantime

United Kingdom – The craft brewer Dark Star seems to have fallen victim to the corporate cost-cutters. Its owner, Asahi, will close the Sussex brewery at the end of December and shift production to its other craft brewery, Greenwich’s Meantime.

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Making beverage cans re-sealable

Two component cap | The can is the only liquid container on earth which cannot be re-sealed once it is opened. Why have none of the previous solutions made it permanently onto supermarket shelves? Christian Paul Sooth, Co-founder of Re-cap solutions from Hamburg thinks, “they all compromise design and function and sound of may be the most iconic packaging on earth. Marketing people don't like it. The technical people in the canning infrastructure neither. This is why we decided to develop an application which will not touch the can as it is.”

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Capacity constraints: Heineken closes Brand brewery in the Netherlands

The Netherlands | Heineken’s cost-cutters had their way again. After Belgium’s Affligem brewery, the Brand brewery in Wijlre is the next to be shuttered. Beer production will be shifted to Heineken’s macro breweries in Zoeterwoude and Den Bosch in 2024. 48 jobs will be lost. This was announced on 26 September.

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Heineken Romania closes brewery in Constanța due to overcapacity

Romania | Heineken, the number two brewer in Romania, will shutter the Constanta brewery in the second half of 2023. The plant, which once produced more than 700,000 hl beer, has been operating well below capacity for years. Production will be shifted to the three remaining breweries in the group.

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Costly overcapacities – Radeberger Group closes Frankfurt brewery

Germany | It is well known that German brewers sit on too much capacity. But it still came as a shock when Radeberger announced, on 29 September, that it will shutter its Binding brewery in Frankfurt. Over the next twelve months production will be relocated to other breweries and 150 people will lose their jobs.

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Gang-member-run TRU Colors Brewing ceases operations amid controversy

USA | What is going on at TRU Colors Brewing, a Wilmington, North Carolina-based brewery, renowned for its mission to end gang violence by employing active, rival gang members? Only in July had its founder, George Taylor, bid USD 20 million for San Diego’s struggling craft brewer Modern Times. And on 9 September he closed TRU Colors’ doors.

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BrewDog shutters six bars in UK amid spiralling costs

United Kingdom | Scottish craft brewer and bar operator BrewDog announced the permanent closure of six pubs due to spiralling operational costs and a lack of help from a “clueless government”.

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Mikkeller to close its San Diego brewery

USA | Is there a San Diego curse going around? After brewers Ballast Point, Saint Archer, Modern Times, Green Flash, Alpine and Stone faced major problems and sold themselves, Mikkeller announced in August that it will close its brewery, blaming two years of Covid and rising costs. About half of Mikkeller’s US employees – 25 – will be laid off. Mikkeller is seeking an immediate sale of its brewery and warehouse.

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Leffe, Grimbergen and Affligem: Do abbey beers need a home?

Belgium | At the end of August, Heineken will turn off the lights at the Affligem brewery in Opwijk. Although the official reason for the closure is plausible enough – the plant is subpar Heineken’s sustainability standards – it still raises pertinent questions.

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Heineken to close historic Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh

United Kingdom | It makes you wonder why Heineken has decided to close its only brewery in Scotland, when all the world is talking about the environmental impact of “food miles” and manufacturers’ carbon footprint. Is not the concept of consolidating beer production in one or two breweries per market outdated, as it means that beer is shunted up and down the country to reach consumers?

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The only Trappist abbey brewery in the US is closing

USA | Rumours have been flying around for some time, but on 14 May 2022 it became official: the award-winning Spencer Brewery in central Massachusetts is ceasing production after an eight-year run as the first and only Trappist brewery outside Europe.

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Heineken to close the Belgian Opwijk production site

Belgium | For years, the Opwijk production site, where the Affligem brand is brewed, has been threatened with closure. Now Heineken is getting serious and said the 400,000 hl production site, some 20 km northwest of Brussels, will be shuttered this summer. According to the Dutch brewer, it is too small and fails to reach environmental benchmarks.

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Carlsberg Marston’s looks for buyer after closing London Fields Brewery

United Kingdom | Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company closed its London Fields Brewery in December 2021, with an eye to selling the craft beer brand just four years after buying it for a reported GBP 4 million (USD 4.9 million).

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Landlord evicts Stone from Napa taproom

USA | Stone Brewing’s Napa taproom and brewery was closed at the end of October 2021, after a judge gave its landlord the power to evict the firm. Almost 40 people lost their jobs.

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Coca-Cola to exit beer in Australia

Australia | With big corporations it is always chopping and changing. After a strategic review, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) announced that it will be withdrawing from the Australian beer and cider market. Can it be the same company that only a decade ago made a big foray into beer, following a strategic review?

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Australian craft brewer with thirty-year history in liquidation

Australia | As the pandemic and lockdowns take their toll, Southern Bay Brewing has collapsed into liquidation. Southern Bay, which was among the first wave of craft brewers in Australia, has been operating from the regional city of Geelong, 70 km south of Melbourne, for some 30 years. It was previously known as Geelong Brewing Company.

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Test-and-trace rules wreak havoc at English pubs and restaurants

United Kingdom | In recent weeks, pubs and restaurants across England have had to close at short notice, as staff are forced to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS test and trace app over coming into contact with someone with covid.

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Lion puts Adelaide brewery equipment up for sale

Australia | It is surprising that Australia’s number two brewer, Lion, would sell a very big brewery, which could give someone else a free kick into the market.