MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., one of the San Fernando Valley's first craft breweries, is closing its Van Nuys taproom after 12 years, telling customers that its family business is no longer viable. The brewery held a final gathering for loyal customers and friends this past Sunday, and it says it will keep pouring its favorite beers right up until the doors shut for good.
The closure ends a run that began in 2014, when co-founders Alastair Boase and Jennifer Boase opened their doors on Calvert Street in Van Nuys. According to the brewery's own announcement on its official Instagram account, MacLeod said, “our family business is no longer viable,” adding that “we had big dreams back in 2014.” The New York Post reports the brewery will keep serving beer until September 27, while MacLeod's own website states the final closing date as September 30 — the two accounts diverge on the exact last day.
MacLeod distinguished itself from the start by brewing real ale with imported English grains, naturally carbonated and cask-conditioned rather than force-carbonated like most American craft beer. As the Los Angeles Times reported when the brewery opened, its beer was served direct from the casks where it was naturally carbonated, poured at cellar temperature between 50 and 57 degrees Fahrenheit through hand pumps. The lineup leaned into British tradition, with low-alcohol pale ales, malty Scotch ales and English-style bitters.
From Brewery to Neighborhood Gathering Spot
Over the years, MacLeod became more than a place to drink. The brewery opened a pizza kitchen four years after founding and effectively became a pizzeria alongside its beer program, before later closing that kitchen. Its Calvert Street space, according to the San Fernando Valley Blog, grew into a neighborhood gathering place for beer, pizza, music, games and community events — hosting darts, cornhole, giant Jenga and board-game nights, along with birthday parties, going-away parties, retirements and other celebrations.
The brewery’s presence at that address is documented in city records: a 2016 Los Angeles City Planning hearing agenda listed Jennifer Febre Boase and Alastair Boase’s Macleod Ale Brewing Company LLC at 14741 West Calvert Street for a conditional-use matter.
The brewery wasn't shy about explaining why it landed in Van Nuys in the first place. Boase said the brewery was not snobbish about choosing the neighborhood, arguing that Van Nuys needed a brewery like MacLeod. But he also acknowledged the odds were against it, and in announcing the shutdown he wrote that the brewery would drain its tanks before turning out the lights for the last time.
A Building Now Headed to a New Owner
MacLeod's footprint grew along with its ambitions. The operation expanded from its original 2,500-square-foot brewery into a neighboring warehouse, eventually reaching roughly 5,000 square feet at 14741-14743 Calvert Street, per the same San Fernando Valley Blog report. That property is now being marketed by Marcus & Millichap as a 5,000-square-foot owner-user opportunity at $385 per square foot, with vacant delivery specified at the close of escrow.
MacLeod also expanded beyond the Valley in 2022, opening a second location at York Boulevard and Aldama Street in Highland Park, inside the former Maximiliano space, according to Eater LA. Because that outlet lacked its own brewing license, head brewer Stephen Reeves upgraded production capacity in Van Nuys to supply both taprooms. Even so, the company never resumed distributing its beer more broadly, telling the Los Angeles Business Journal, “we're still not distributing because we don't think it's profitable for us.”
This isn't the first time MacLeod has faced an existential scare. The company announced in late 2022 that its Van Nuys and Highland Park locations would cease operations after selling through their remaining beer, but the Van Nuys taproom later resumed. In December 2023, owner Jennifer Febre said the brewery was doing everything it could to remain open, pointing to unsustainable payroll and operating expenses tied to the kitchen. More recently, patrons in a May 2025 online discussion described MacLeod shifting away from house-brewed beer toward a larger selection of guest taps, though a January 2026 discussion noted production appeared to be ramping back up, with one cask ale and several MacLeod beers returning to the lineup.
A Tough Stretch for California Craft Beer
MacLeod's closure lands amid a broader reckoning across the craft beer industry. Nationally, 481 U.S. craft breweries closed in 2025 while only 300 new ones opened, according to figures reported by TheStreet, which also found that craft beer production fell 4% for the year to about 22 million barrels and that 60% of breweries reported lower output. The number of operating U.S. craft breweries dropped 2.9% to 9,578.
California has felt that squeeze acutely. Per-capita beer consumption in the state fell 12% between 2015 and 2025, and beer consumption in the state has also declined. California's craft beer industry employed about 47,000 workers, down 2,000 from the prior year, according to the Sacramento Business Journal, which described breweries statewide adapting to rising costs and more adults abstaining from alcohol altogether.
Other Southern California breweries have made painful cuts in recent months. Stone Brewing, launched in 1996 in San Marcos, is exiting all three of its Escondido facilities and laying off about 220 employees as new owners shift production to Paso Robles and Kansas City, Missouri — with the first 58 layoffs set to begin October 19, according to the Los Angeles Times. Ventura's Topa Topa Brewing Co. said it does not plan to close any of its five locations or reduce production. The state's craft-beer industry continues to face pressure.
A Wider View of Brewery Closures
The latest Brewers Association figures show 481 U.S. craft brewery closures and 300 openings in 2025, down from 591 closures and 518 openings in 2024. These are national figures, not a California-specific count, and they do not establish why MacLeod closed. As a separate local precedent, Eater LA reported in June 2024 that Northeast Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock Brewery announced it would close after 15 years. That report does not establish that Eagle Rock’s circumstances or reasons were the same as MacLeod’s.
For a business that helped introduce cask-conditioned British ale to the San Fernando Valley, MacLeod's exit fits a pattern its owners had been fighting for years. Rising labor, rent, utility, insurance and supply costs, combined with consumers drinking less beer and alcohol generally, have made survival difficult even for breweries with devoted followings. When the taproom finally goes dark, Van Nuys will lose not just a brewery but the kind of neighborhood living room that regulars like Paulis and Godinez built years of memories around.
