最新杏吧原创

The Maryland Heights beermaker 鈥� best known for its smooth and citrusy Wheach beer, 5-Day IPA and slates of autumnal brews 鈥� submitted a Chapter 11 petition Monday evening in the Eastern District of Missouri.

鈥淲e hope to continue to make beer for many more years 鈥� but we have some challenges ahead of us that we鈥檒l have to work through,鈥� said Jim Gorczyca, president and CEO of O鈥橣allon Brewery.

Gorczyca said he is making every effort to keep the business going, and is hoping for support from his customers, and from beer lovers across the Midwest.

The filing is a sign that the craft beer boom hasn鈥檛 emerged entirely unscathed from the economic stressors that have frustrated businesses large and small in recent years, including rising costs, interest rate hikes and shifting consumer habits.

Founded in 2000, the brewery was acquired by Gorczyca, a former Anheuser-Busch executive, in 2011. The brewery relocated from its namesake city to Maryland Heights in 2015, as it also moved some of its previously outsourced production back to the 最新杏吧原创 area, and opened its restaurant, O鈥橞ar.

Today it distributes in 14 states, but a large portion of its sales are in Missouri and Illinois.

Some of the brewery鈥檚 main financial troubles can be traced to COVID-19, and the economic rebalancing of the past three years. Inflation raised the cost of transporting beer, and the cost of beer-making supplies. Higher interest rates made borrowing money more expensive: The interest rates on the brewery鈥檚 Small Business Administration loans rose to nearly 11%, from about 6% in 2014, Gorczyca said.

O鈥橣allon Brewery has been able to make modest price increases, Gorczyca said, but not enough to keep up with inflation. Plus, located in a business area, the brewery took a hit from the shift toward remote work.

鈥淲e鈥檝e counted on those people to come into the restaurant for lunches and happy hours and things,鈥� Gorczyca said. 鈥淲hile the restaurant is rebounding, and our business is good, it isn鈥檛 quite what it was prior to COVID.鈥�

Chris Shepard, a senior editor at Beer Marketer鈥檚 Insights, said many in the craft beer industry are facing similar challenges. Around 2017 and 2018, people in the business began to see that craft beer鈥檚 growth was beginning to slow.

鈥淧eople were looking around and saying to themselves, 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 great,鈥欌�� Shepard said. 鈥淎nd then the pandemic hit.鈥�

Relief money likely bridged some gaps, Shepard said, but now that has disappeared. The craft beer industry is always mixed 鈥� it鈥檚 always possible to find a company that鈥檚 growing. But Beer Marketer鈥檚 Insights data showed craft beer production declined in 2022, Shepard said, and the Brewer鈥檚 Association estimated that production was flat.

鈥淚n all, you can definitely say that craft isn鈥檛 growing,鈥� Shepard said. 鈥淏rewers are sort of seeing where they are, in the new normal.鈥�