Do Two Texas Brewery Closures Signal Trouble For The Craft Beer Industry?

For years, there’s been talk about the growth of the craft beer business. Breweries have been popping up all over Texas to fill a thirst for locally made suds. But it’s worth wondering whether we’ve reached a saturation point. In December, Big Bend Brewing announced it was suspending its operations and Noble Rey Brewing in Dallas just filed for bankruptcy.

Justin Kendall is the assistant editor at Brewbound, an industry trade publication. He says Big Bend’s troubles are connected to the failure of a Canadian company that was supposed to supply the brewery with new equipment. Big Bend had paid a deposit, which it lost – at least temporarily – when the supplier went into receivership.

As for Noble Rey, Kendall says it owes money to vendors for equipment purchases, but isn’t able to pay its debts without restructuring the company to try to make it more profitable.

But beer industry troubles aren’t limited to the two Texas craft brewers. Kendall says growth has slowed, and even large brewers are laying off employees.

Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/do-two-texas-brewery-closures-signal-trouble-for-the-craft-beer-industry/