Report: After 25 Years, 21st Amendment Brewery Will Shut Down by Early November

The Bay Area’s 21st Amendment Brewery is shutting down after 25 years of operation. According to a Thursday report from Brewbound, founders Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia plan to slowly cease operations at the San Leonardo production facility over the next 60 days, with the goal of shuttering completely by early November. They aim to keep the taproom and 2nd Street San Francisco brewpub open for as long as possible, depending on staffing.

The news comes as a bit of a shock considering the fact that just last week, O’Sullivan and Freccia announced that they would be stepping back from day-to-day operations after bringing in a new CEO.

“We’ve brought in a new CEO through a new partnership aimed at bringing in suppliers both inside and outside the beer space, with the goal of developing a broader platform and filling capacity at our San Leonardo production facility,” O’Sullivan remarked in an Instagram post. “I’ll be taking some much-needed time off, then exploring future opportunities. I’ll see you all around the bend. The story continues…”

According to Brewbound, the plans with this new leadership have been in place since at least early July. However, last week, a financial lender working with 21st Amendment to grow the business pulled out of their agreement, allegedly citing industry-wide challenges in craft brewing and arguing that there was no “clear path forward.”

Established in 2000, 21st Amendment Brewery is located within walking distance of the San Francisco Giants’ home stadium and quickly became one of the most popular breweries in the Bay Area. But after enjoying over a decade of near-continuous growth, things hit a standstill just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We built a big facility at a time when the industry was growing rapidly and we were growing 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent a year,” Freccia told Brewbound in regards to the multi-million dollar San Leonardo facility 21st Amendment opened in 2015. “That growth came to a slowdown and then a standstill right after we opened.”

The Covid era was particularly challenging for the brand, with its home market distributor DBI Beverage Inc. acquired by Reyes Holdings in 2019, forcing the brewery to pivot to Anheuser-Busch networks at the start of the pandemic. Moreover, a partnership with Brooklyn Brewery that allowed 21st Amendment to ship nationally dissolved around the same time. Separately, a dispute with a can supplier put the brewery’s beers on an allocation-only basis and prohibited 21st Amendment from shipping beer on order.

According to Freccia, the business has not been profitable for years, with the San Francisco location operating at just 40 percent of the capacity it was operating under pre-Covid. Without the help of a financial lender, the future of 21st Amendment remains up in the air.

“We thought it was going to be a really good, elegant and optimistic way forward for us and the brand,” Freccia told Brewbound. “They wanted to grow the brand. We were about to make some hires. The lenders aren’t necessarily craft beer people. They’re money people, and they can see the challenges ahead. At a certain point, I think somebody decided ‘We better step back before we get in too deep.’”

Brewbound reports that both O’Sullivan and Freccia remain open to exploring opportunities with other buyers interested in the 21st Amendment brand.

“The craft beer works has changed a lot since we opened in 2000, and we are proud of the role we played in shaping it,” O’Sullivan added. “While this chapter is closing, I hope our story inspires the next generation of brewers and dreamers.”

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