Boston Beer to Close Angel City Brewery, Laying Off 66 Workers

Angel City Brewery, the Los Angeles Arts District institution that Michael Bowe launched in 1997 and that has poured craft beer out of its current location since 2011, will close its doors for good on April 30. Boston Beer Company, which owns the brand, confirmed the shutdown is timed to coincide with the end of the brewery's lease, and a California WARN notice indicates the closure will result in 66 layoffs.

Boston Beer told KTLA the brewery is lucrative and that the decision to close comes down to consolidating business, a framing that landed hard in a craft beer community already watching closures stack up across the country. Because all of Angel City's beer is produced at the Arts District site, the shutdown will almost certainly mark the end of production there.

The company is not writing off the Angel City name entirely. "We believe there is potential for this brand to succeed outside of Boston Beer as a strong local offering, and we'll be putting significant efforts behind selling Angel City so the brand can continue to live on," Boston Beer officials said. That leaves open the possibility of new ownership keeping the label alive, though what a sale would include in terms of recipes, equipment, and branding assets has not been detailed publicly.

For the Angelenos who made the Arts District taproom part of their routine, the news hit personally. The San Bernardino Sun had chronicled how the spot drew crowds for food trucks, live music, and streaming sports. When the taproom confirmed the April 30 date in an Instagram post, the replies reflected what the place meant to regulars. "Angel City Brewery changed our lives," one commenter wrote. "Love y'all, thanks for everything you've done," posted another.

The closure adds to a grim stretch for regional craft producers. Black Frog Brewery's original Holland, Ohio location also recently shuttered after a decade in operation, with Brewbound flagging both closures in the same industry roundup. The Brewers Association, meanwhile, is rolling out a National Beer Day toolkit for members, the kind of promotional push that underscores how hard the industry is working to maintain momentum as consolidation and closures accelerate.

Bowe founded Angel City nearly three decades ago as the craft movement was still finding its footing. The Arts District location, which opened in 2011, became one of Los Angeles' signature craft beer destinations before Boston Beer acquired the brand. Whether a buyer emerges to carry the Angel City name forward will likely become clear in the weeks surrounding the April 30 closure.