Craft brewery news roundup: October 26–November 1, 2026

This verified weekly roundup covers notable U.S. brewery developments that occurred, were announced, or received substantive new reporting from Monday, October 26, through Sunday, November 1, 2026. Closings dominated again, led by Vermont's first brewpub setting its last day after nearly 38 years. Jester King said it is looking for a buyer, Land-Grant moved toward taking over Nocterra's Powell brewery, and Tilray outlined its next round of beer cost cuts after consolidating its U.S. breweries. On the brighter side, new taprooms opened or set dates in Asheville, Castroville, Brighton, and Milwaukee. Where a date is a target rather than a confirmed plan, we say so.

Openings and reopenings

HopFly Brewing brings a taproom and kitchen to Asheville's South Slope

Asheville, North Carolina. Charlotte-based HopFly Brewing set Friday, October 30, as the public opening day for its Asheville location at 101 S. Lexington Avenue, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported that morning. The space pairs a taproom with HopFly's first in-house kitchen, a performance room called The Hook, and a beer garden.

The South Slope is already full of breweries, so adding a kitchen and a music room there is a bet on visitors who want to stay for more than one pint.

Alvarado Street sets a date for its Castroville taproom

Castroville, California. Alvarado Street Brewery will open the taproom at The Plant, its new production brewery at 11440 Commercial Parkway, on Saturday, November 7, from 1 to 9 p.m., according to Monterey County Weekly on October 30. The brewhouse has been running since August while the taproom waited on final state alcohol approval. After opening day it will be open Wednesday through Sunday, with 18 taps and food trucks outside.

Owner J.C. Hill told the paper the new system let the team brew "more this week than a typical month." Alvarado Street already appears in our guide to California's best craft breweries, and The Plant gives Monterey County drinkers a second place to try its beer close to where it is made.

Four Circles Brewery returns under new owners

Brighton, Michigan. Four Circles Brewery at 709 W. Grand River Avenue is coming back after closing in July, MLive reported on October 26. Lisa and Keith Bergevin bought the business from founders Nick and Colleen Miller in September and plan a grand reopening on November 8.

A sale and reopening keeps a local taproom and its regulars together instead of leaving another empty storefront.

Tree Line Brewing sets a Milwaukee opening

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tree Line Brewing will open on Friday, November 27, at 7100 W. Center Street in the Enderis Park neighborhood, OnMilwaukee reported on October 30. Founder Nick Guthery was previously head brewer at Broken Bat Brewing.

The opening adds a neighborhood brewery on the city's northwest side. For more places to drink in the state, see our Wisconsin brewery guide.

Closings and changes

Vermont Pub & Brewery will close after nearly 38 years

Burlington, Vermont. Vermont Pub & Brewery announced on Instagram on Monday, October 26, that its last full day of service will be November 14, three days after its 38th anniversary, WCAX reported. The pub opened in 1988 as Vermont's first brewpub. Founder Greg Noonan opened it after he and Bill Mares helped change state law to allow brewpubs, according to a second WCAX report.

Co-owner Elise Pecor pointed to nearby construction, fewer Canadian visitors, and higher operating costs, saying in local TV coverage, including WPTZ, that the business does not have "the kind of capital to weather the storm." The pub is part of the history behind the state's beer scene, which we cover in our Vermont brewery guide.

Berlin Brewing closes its New Jersey taproom

Berlin, New Jersey. Berlin Brewing Co. closed its taproom at 220 S. White Horse Pike, according to NJ.com on October 28 and NJBIZ on October 29. Reports differ on when owners Eddie and Michele Secrest first posted the news, October 27 or 28. A follow-up post on October 29 confirmed the brewery was officially closed, 42 Freeway reported. NJ.com reported that the owners are not ready to give up on the brand entirely.

NJBIZ, citing the Brewers Guild of New Jersey, reported that the state lost about one in five of its breweries between 2019 and 2025. Berlin Brewing had been open since 2014.

Brick Box Brewery will close in downtown Tucson

Tucson, Arizona. Brick Box Brewery will close on November 29, Tucson Foodie reported on October 27. The brewery took over the former Thunder Canyon Brewery space at 220 E. Broadway Boulevard and relaunched it in 2024. Hoodline also reported the closing. No reason was given in either report.

The closing leaves a downtown brewery space that has poured beer for nearly three decades without a tenant.

Western Collective sets last call at its Garden City taproom, keeps its beer

Garden City, Idaho. Western Collective planned to close its taproom at 111 W. 33rd Street after a Halloween event on Saturday, October 31, BoiseDev reported on October 30. Co-owner Cary Prewitt told BoiseDev the taproom's lease ends at the end of the year and the brands will continue at another local brewery, with a deal that could be finalized in the coming weeks. 103.5 KISS FM also reported the closing.

Fans can still expect to find Western Collective beer, but not at its own bar. Moving production to another brewery is one way smaller brands are cutting fixed costs.

Timnath Beerwerks sets a last day in Fort Collins

Fort Collins, Colorado. Timnath Beerwerks set Sunday, November 1, as the final day for its Fort Collins taproom at 225 N. Lemay Avenue, according to the Coloradoan on October 28. Timnath Beerwerks took over the former Snowbank Brewing space in 2024. Its original taproom at 4138 Main Street in Timnath stays open.

Fort Collins drinkers lose one stop, but the brewery itself is not going away.

Nine Maidens Brewing sets its last pints in Rochester

Rochester, New York. Nine Maidens Brewing at 1344 University Avenue will pour its last pints on November 14, with a mug club party on November 15, the Rochester Beacon reported on October 30. Owners Zeb and Emily Zimmerman opened the brewery in 2019. They pointed to changing drinking habits and rising costs, and one of them told the Beacon, "It's the right time, honestly."

Mug club members have about two weeks to use their benefits.

Back Bay's Farmhouse Brewery will close at year's end

Virginia Beach, Virginia. Back Bay's Farmhouse Brewery at 1805 Kempsville Road announced on October 30 that its last day will be December 31, 13NewsNow reported. It plans to keep regular hours until then.

Locals have two months for a farewell visit.

Sisyphus Brewing's future depends on a lease

Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sisyphus Brewing co-owner Sam Harriman posted on Facebook on October 27 that Dunwoody College, its landlord at 712 Ontario Avenue W., would not extend or expand the brewery's lease, which ends in January 2027, FOX 9 reported. A Dunwoody spokesperson told CBS Minnesota that the college wants the brewery to stay beyond its current lease but is "not in the position to sign a long-term lease agreement, as was proposed." Harriman told the station he is working to negotiate a resolution. The two sides describe the situation differently, and no closing date has been set.

Sisyphus is also known for its stand-up comedy room, which the Star Tribune called one of the state's best. A loss would hit the local comedy scene as well as its beer drinkers.

Oakshire shares how it will keep brewing

Eugene, Oregon. Oakshire Brewing will sell its northwest Eugene production brewery and equipment and make its beer at another Oregon brewery, KLCC reported on October 27. Oakshire hopes to name that partner before Thanksgiving. The new details follow its October 23 announcement that the Eugene Public House will stay open under the same ownership, as Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported.

Oakshire had announced in September that it could not keep the business going, as we reported in our September 21–27 roundup. The new plan means its beer and its Eugene pub carry on, even without its own brewhouse.

Business and ownership

Jester King is looking for a buyer

Austin area, Texas. Jester King Brewery founders Jeffrey Stuffings and Michael Steffing said in an October 28 note that they are looking for a buyer and that it is "not a closure announcement," according to the Houston Chronicle. The Chronicle reported that sales of the brewery's mixed-fermentation beer fell from about 2,000 barrels to about 400 after 2022. The Austin Business Journal and ProBrewer also covered the sale.

Jester King is known for farmhouse-style and mixed-fermentation beers, a family that includes saison, and it is one of the breweries in our Texas brewery guide. Whoever buys it will shape whether that kind of slow, barrel-aged beer has a future there.

Land-Grant moves to take over Nocterra in Powell

Powell, Ohio. Columbus brewery Land-Grant Brewing is in the final stages of buying Nocterra Brewing and plans to open a brewery in Nocterra's former flagship at 41 Depot Street, Columbus Business First reported on October 28. Food writer Breakfast With Nick summarized the report on October 29. Nocterra closed its Powell brewery and its Scioto Audubon taproom at the end of August, then hinted at a comeback on its website, NBC4 reported earlier in October.

No price or opening date has been made public, and the deal had not been reported as closed. If it goes through, Powell drinkers get a brewery back in a building that has been dark since summer.

Tilray outlines its next round of beer cost cuts

United States. Tilray Brands said on October 29 that it has already consolidated its U.S. brewing network from 10 facilities to 6 and plans to sell brewing and warehouse sites made redundant by that move, according to the company's announcement. The release listed the steps behind the consolidation: closing Hop Valley's Eugene brewery, Redhook Brewlab and the Revolver brewery, selling the Atwater brand, and moving Terrapin's brewing out of Athens, Georgia, while keeping the Athens taproom. Tilray is targeting about $20 million in annual savings by the end of fiscal 2028 and has cut its product count by about 28 percent since January 2025. Its U.S. partnership with Carlsberg begins January 1, 2027, with a first-year target of about 1 million cases, Brewbound reported.

Tilray owns a long list of former independent craft brands, so moves like these decide where familiar beers are brewed and whether they stay on shelves. Our October 19–25 roundup covered the closing of Atwater in the Park, a taproom tied to the Atwater brand Tilray says it has sold. Tilray has not said which sites it will sell or which more products may be cut.

Sources

• WCAX, Vermont Pub & Brewery announces closure after almost 38 years, October 27.
• WCAX, Abigail Saxe, Last call: Burlington pub that helped launch Vermont's craft beer scene, October 27.
• WPTZ NBC5, Vermont Pub & Brewery closure, October 27.
• Asheville Citizen-Times, Charlotte's HopFly Brewing opens first taproom kitchen in Asheville, October 30.
• Monterey County Weekly, Dave Faries, Alvarado Street's much anticipated Castroville taproom to open on Saturday, Nov. 7, October 30.
• MLive, Jennifer Eberbach, Brighton brewery coming back under new ownership, October 26.
• OnMilwaukee, Bobby Tanzilo, Tree Line Brewing first look, October 30.
• NJ.com, Popular N.J. brewery closing, but owners say they're not ready to call it quits, October 28.
• NJBIZ, Kimberly Redmond, Berlin Brewing Co. to close New Jersey taproom, October 29.
• 42 Freeway, Mark Matthews, Berlin Brewing and Whims Brewing announce upcoming closings, October 29.
• Tucson Foodie, Jackie Tran, Brick Box Brewery to close downtown Nov. 29, October 27.
• Hoodline, Brick Box Brewery pours its last round Nov. 29, October 28.
• BoiseDev, Don Day, Western Collective to shutter Garden City taproom, October 30.
• 103.5 KISS FM, Western Collective brewery closure, October 30.
• Coloradoan, Only days remain before Timnath Beerwerks closes in Fort Collins, October 28.
• Rochester Beacon, Will Cleveland, Last call for Nine Maidens, October 30.
• 13NewsNow, Patriceia Beckford, Back Bay's Farmhouse Brewery to close Dec. 31, October 30.
• FOX 9, Nick Longworth, Sisyphus Brewing could close amid Dunwoody College lease dispute, October 27.
• Star Tribune, Neal Justin, One of Minnesota's best stand-up venues may shut down, October 28.
• CBS Minnesota, Sisyphus Brewing and Dunwoody College, October 28.
• KLCC, Zac Ziegler, Oakshire Brewing won't shut down after all but will produce its beer at another brewery, October 27.
• Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Taylor Goebel, Oakshire Public House will stay open after all, October 23.
• Houston Chronicle, Jester King Brewery looks for a buyer, October 29.
• Austin Business Journal, Sahar Chmais, Jester King Brewery sale, October 30.
• ProBrewer, Tom McCormick, Jester King Brewery seeking buyer, October 30.
• Columbus Business First, Dan Eaton, Land-Grant to buy Nocterra Brewing, open in flagship Powell space, October 28.
• Breakfast With Nick, Columbus restaurant news: Land-Grant buying Nocterra Brewing, October 29.
• NBC4, Nocterra Brewing Co. hints at comeback after shutting down in August, October 19.
• Tilray Brands, Tilray Brands announces next phase of beverage transformation, October 29.
• Brewbound, Jessica Infante, Tilray streamlines brewery network to 6 facilities, targets 1M cases of Carlsberg in 2027, October 30.