The popularity of craft beer in the past 10 years has led to a significant increase in the opening of breweries and taprooms across the U.S. The number of craft brewers grew from about 4,803 in 2015 to about 9,761 in 2023, according to the Brewers Association.
The U.S. craft brewery industry has also suffered from a rising rate of business closings over that period. Craft brewery closings rose from 97 in 2016 to 418 in 2023, for a total of about 2,036 over the eight-year period.
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In many cases, a craft brewery closing coincided with either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Among the breweries filing Chapter 11 this year to reorganize their businesses and keep operating was Roth Brewing Co. of Raleigh, N.C., which filed in March. Harrisburg, Pa., craft brewer SpringGate Vineyard's owner, Schoffstall Farm, filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to reorganize.
Milwaukee craft brewery Company Brewing shut down its operations and began liquidating its remaining inventory online after its owner George Bregar on May 31 filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
In January, Zydeco Brew Works in Ybor City, Fla., filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida and closed its main brewery and restaurant location on 7th Avenue in Tampa, Fla.
Tampa, Fla.-based King State in February filed Chapter 11 after suffering financial distress caused by city infrastructure work that disrupted the company's business.
Related: Another popular beverage brand files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
And then there are more unconventional causes behind a bankruptcy filing.
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Partnership dispute leads to Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Popular craft brewery Griffin Claw Brewing Co. on July 26 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for an unusual reason. The company reportedly is not facing financial distress, and thus is not seeking a liquidation or restructuring of its financial situation, .
A reorganization, however, is likely in the Michigan company's future as the owners of Griffin Claw Brewing filed their petition to avoid litigation between the ownership's partners, the Detroit News reported.
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"We're a profitable company," Griffin Claw co-owner Scott LePage said. "We've always been profitable, it's just that we got put into this position and ownership can't agree."
LePage said that the Chapter 11 filing will not affect Griffin Claw's business operations or employees at its Birmingham and Rochester Hills, Mich., locations. The brewery, restaurants and taprooms will operate as usual, he said.
"Nothing's changing. We're open, the patios are busy and we're ready for a good Friday night. It's an ownership disagreement," LePage said. Employees and vendors will be paid, he said.
Griffin Claw was established in 2011 by Scott LePage's father, Norman LePage, and his partner Ray Nicholson. Upon the death of Nicholson in 2019, a dispute developed between the LePage family and Nicholson's heirs.
The unsolvable issue, the LePage family claims, is both sides reportedly can't agree on who is owed what from the sale of Clubhouse BFD in Rochester Hills to Griffin Claw Brewing. The Rochester business has been rebranded as Griffin Claw Brewing.
The company offers 18 different brews, including one of its first award winners, Norm's Raggedy IPA. Griffin Claw also offers its hard cider and distills its own spirits, including vodka, bourbon, whiskey, gin and rum.
The LePage family also owns the Lumen Detroit restaurant in Beacon Park, which is not included in the bankruptcy filing.
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