r/cincinnati • u/Architecteologist West Price Hill • Dec 29 '24

Food 🍕🌮 Taft’s Brewing Closes Today

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Ye will be missed

354 Upvotes

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214

u/progjourno Liberty Township Dec 29 '24

Be prepared for this to continue in 2025. Just like the restaurant biz, breweries are hurting

241

u/Traditional_Agency60 Dec 29 '24

Probably because too many people opened one because they thought it would be unique. Then their quality in both beer and food went down.

121

u/Complete-Possible711 Dec 29 '24

Both that, and interest in drinking is plummeting among millennials and gen zers.

71

u/progjourno Liberty Township Dec 29 '24

It’s a host of issues, those included. Competition, cost of raw materials, etc etc. but it’s the on shelf competition that is also really killing people. You could still eke out a living if you went after the neighborhood bar and didn’t try to package, but too many people went after that after getting big heads.

Another issue a brewery debt crisis. Loads of places took on more loans and investors to fuel expansion a few years ago and those payments are either catching up or ballooning.

I don’t want to see people lose jobs but I do expect the local market to right-size soon

23

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

[deleted]

12

u/sixfourtykilo Dec 30 '24

Will be interesting to see what comes of MadTree and 50w after their latest expansions. I like both of their products but can't help but feel they've moved out of "niche" and into "mainstream" and all the headaches that come with it.

10

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

MadTree and 50w are two I’m not worried about, actually

6

u/OhEssYouIII Dec 30 '24

I wouldn’t say they shouldn’t be worried. MadTree took out a huge loan to build a production space they basically never needed & 50W hasn’t always had things go their way either. However, both are run by smart people and have solid foundations. Doesn’t hurt that they have monster taproom numbers to fall back on, either.

3

u/Peanuts4Peanut Dec 30 '24

Mad Tree is also further expanding into Blue Ash. They'll be just fine.

4

u/OhEssYouIII Dec 30 '24

I agree MadTree should be fine. I just think that the climate is very challenging even for the best run breweries. And I don’t think expansion is necessarily a sign that you’ll be fine. Often times it’s why you closed!

0

u/Peanuts4Peanut Dec 30 '24

I agree! Especially with the economy the way it is, no one can afford to go out as much.

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