Mile Wide Beer Company says Dec. 31, 2026, will be its last day of operation under its original ownership, closing out a decade of brewing on Barret Avenue in Louisville's Phoenix Hill neighborhood. The company says it remains fully operational, with staff and brewing equipment still in place, as it works to find someone to take the business forward.
A Decade on Barret Avenue Comes to a Close
According to WLKY, the brewery's owners framed the decision as the end of ten years of brewing beer and building relationships in Louisville and across Kentucky. Co-founders Scott Shreffler, Kyle Tavares and Matt Landon announced the closure in a joint Facebook message, according to WHAS11, saying they were proud to brew award-winning beer and foster friendships and community across the city and state.
The founders said the brewery could not have succeeded without its supporters, and their message expressed gratitude to the customers who kept the taps flowing for a decade, per the same WHAS11 report. Before the doors close, Mile Wide plans new beer releases and a 10th-anniversary celebration, and the company said it hopes to see customers over the next two months to toast the end of an era.
Still Searching for a Buyer
Rather than treat Dec. 31 as a certain end, Mile Wide says it hopes to find a buyer who can take over operations and keep the local brewery going. The company's founders said interested brewery owners or operators have an opportunity to hit the ground running, according to WHAS11, since the Barret Avenue space, staff and equipment remain intact.
Mile Wide's owners described the industry's current climate as challenging, and the company characterized breweries broadly as hanging on by a thread, per the company's own framing relayed by WLKY. The brewery urged people to support local breweries amid those tough conditions, a plea that echoes across the broader beer industry right now.
A Tough Stretch for Craft Beer Nationwide
Mile Wide's struggles mirror a broader slowdown in American craft brewing. The Brewers Association reported that U.S. craft beer production fell 4% in 2025 to 22,034,000 barrels, while the number of operating craft breweries dropped 2.9% to 9,578 — though the association also noted that closures eased to 481 last year, down from 591 in 2024.
The pressure has continued into this year. The trade group's midyear report found craft beer volume down another 4% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, with 9,344 breweries operating in June 2026, 1.8% fewer than in June 2025. Still, the same survey found a mixed picture: 54% of respondents reported growth, while 43% reported declines and 3% stayed flat.
The squeeze isn't limited to Kentucky. The Los Angeles Times reported that Prohibition Brewing Co. in Vista was set to close after roughly 18 years, while Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley was shutting down after 40 years and Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka was auctioning off equipment as its founder retired after 36 years. Louisville has already seen its own long-running closure this year, with a WHAS11 report noting that Bluegrass Brewing Company shut down after 33 years in business.
