In addition to the closings of Calvert Brewing Company and Black Narrows Brewing, there are two notable brewery transactions in the area, one in Maryland and the other in Virginia.
Columbia, Maryland’s Hysteria Brewing is for sale, and by DC residential real estate prices, it seems like a pretty good deal, though maybe it isn’t the best time to buy a brewery. The business is being sold for $699,000 by “motivated sellers,” and could also be a bar. This sale does not include Hysteria’s Anne Arundel County taproom, which is under different ownership. That business may contract brew Hysteria’s core beers elsewhere. A search on Maryland.gov’s Business Express site shows that both Hysteria Brewing Company and Hysteria Brewing Company, LLC have statuses of “Forfeited” for their business licenses, though Hysteria in Columbia remains open for the time being. The brewery did not distribute in DC and was the first craft brewery in Columbia, opening before Black Flag and Sapwood. Ex-Hysteria head brewer Tyler Kreis might have something percolating in La Plata, Maryland. Stay tuned.
Moving to the Commonwealth, our last DC Beer Show podcast of 2023 featured Mike Earle of Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Earle was attempting to fundraise to purchase Manassas, Virginia’s Bad Wolf Brewing and turn it into Wolf and Bear Brewing. That did not come to pass, and Brightworks Brewing has taken over the Bad Wolf location with an eye towards a spring opening. Brightworks emphasizes family friendliness and its nano-size on the web.
As a bonus, let’s head back to Maryland, and closer to DC: the Silver Spring former location of Denizens remains available for lease. Do the math on the square footage and you’ll probably understand why that’s the case.
There’s already been a lot of brewery churn in 2024 and we suspect the rest of the year will be no different. Watch this site and our social media for area developments, and hopefully more openings than closings.
