20160718

St. Lawrence turning off the taps, and the lights

A lineup going defunct
A lineup going defunct
Even in the midst of relentlessly upbeat news about the booming New York State craft beer industry, there can be an occasional sour note.

In this instance, it is the announcement from a St. Lawrence County brewer that it is shutting down operations.

St. Lawrence Brewing Company, which opened in Canton in 2013, closed its tap room Wednesday, then announced it will cease production by the end of the month, citing slow sales and increased competition. It didn't help that a trio of regional development agencies recently called in the low-interest loan that originally helped the brewery open.

According to officials, $290,000 still is owned on a loan of $375,000 made by the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, the North County Alliance, and the Adirondack Economic Development Corporation. That means the brewer aid back only about $85,000 in its three years of operation.

"Despite our efforts, we've been unable to maintain a sales volume to sustain operations in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive market," brewery owner Kenneth M. Hebb said in a Facebook announcement. "Unfortunately, we've had to close our doors. We'd like to thank you for your support of the brewery over the last three years. The people we've met, the good times we've had, and most importantly, the friends we've made have been our most valuable assets."

3 comments:

William M. Dowd said...

From Sam Pagano (via Dowd On Drinks)

They closed because all of their product was flawed. This has nothing to do with shelf space, but rather an undrinkable product mostly like due to poor brewing/packaging processes. NYS will be better off with their closure.

William M. Dowd said...

From Penn (via Dowd On Drinks)

Everybody with a carboy and a bubbler is a brewmaster. Most are too busy drinking to learn business. Sales are dependent on Marketing, but Marketing can’t save poor products or bad packaging. The good intentions of the amateur brewmaster never translate to the beer. More will close due to the same failed formula as this one.

William M. Dowd said...

LDP writes (via Dowd On Drinks):

SP is right, these beers just were not good. I’m all for basic styles made well, but every beer I tried from these folks had noticeable flaws that should have prevented them from ever being released. It may sound harsh, but we need a few more of places like this to shut down. There are a ton of good to great breweries in NYS and they need to be front and center.