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To the dozen regular customers sipping the final ales and lagers at Prohibition Brewing Company in Vista on a recent Friday night, it not only marks the end of an era, but also raises questions about the future of craft beer.
“There’s a sense of loss. It’s like when ‘Cheers’ closed in the last episode,” said Vista resident Greg Johnson, in a nod to the 1980s sitcom about a neighborhood bar, “where everybody knows your name.”
Prohibition will shut its doors this month after the last kegs are drained, making it one of several high-profile brewery closures in San Diego, a region that pioneered the craft brew industry.
Japanese beer-maker Sapporo is selling Stone Brewing, which it acquired in 2022. To the dismay of North County beer lovers, it’s closing the brand’s flagship site in Escondido, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, with its sprawling complex of terraces and gardens.
“That place was so unique,” one Stone fan wrote on Facebook. “A place to take out of town guests. A place of Escondido pride.”
“We are devastated by losing this part of our community,” another wrote.
In August, the 19-year-old Mission Brewing in East Village shuttered its tasting room at the historic, brick Wonder Bread building near Petco Park. At the end of last year Ballast Point Brewing closed its 600-seat bar and restaurant in San Diego’s Miramar district.
Brewers and customers are divided on whether the changes represent the leveling of a mature industry, or a bad omen for San Diego’s beer scene.
“Any explosion we’ve seen is going to flatten out, and that’s what we’re doing now,” said Erik Fowler, a local brewer and former executive director of the San Diego Brewers Guild. “San Diego takes such pride in its brewing industry that when Stone shifts its operations, there’s a very visceral reaction.”
Other landmark California breweries are also closing up shop; Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley is shutting its doors after 40 years of making beer, the award-winning Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka is auctioning off its equipment as its founder retires after 36 years. And the towering Angel City Brewery near downtown Los Angeles closed in April.
Declines in craft beer
The suite of closures is part of a downward trend for breweries across the state and nation, driven by market saturation, changing consumer tastes and rising costs.
Nationwide, the number of craft breweries fell 3.5% between 2024 and 2025, craft beer production dropped 3.8%, and production of all beers declined 5.7%, according to the Brewers Association, a national trade organization. In California, the number of craft breweries fell 5% between 2023 and 2025, from 987 to 939.
But that’s not the most alarming news, said Matt Gacioch, economist for the Brewers Association.
“The big change from a few years ago is not a huge jump in breweries closing,” he said. “What’s changed is the number of breweries opening is going way, way down.”
That dropoff reflects the economics of craft beer production. Steep U.S. tariffs have raised the price of imported aluminum and steel, which American breweries need for cans and equipment. In response, most Canadian provinces have banned or restricted American alcohol, so beer imports to Canada have plunged 90%, Gacioch said.
Mercurial trade war politics make it hard for brewers to know whether tariffs are on or off, and what current tariff rates are, said Kelsey McQuaid-Craig, executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association: “There’s just so much volatility that people can’t plan ahead.”
Changes to the beer industry also mirror shifts in drinking habits. Younger Americans, particularly Gen Z, drink less alcohol than previous generations, or prefer beverages such as canned cocktails or hard seltzers.
Most poignantly, declines in craft brewing reflects Californians’ conflicted impulses toward community gatherings versus screen-focused solitude.
“People are looking for that option to actually see other human beings, talk and get to know your neighborhood and people in your community,” McQuaid-Craig said, pointing out that “public houses” or alehouses have filled that role for centuries.
Some local brewpubs offer food, game nights and trivia contests with themes such as sports or science fiction. A few have putting greens or volleyball courts. Most importantly they provide a comfortable space to meet friends, neighbors and maybe even future spouses. That’s a source of hope for the faltering craft brew business.
“It’s interesting that the breweries that are focused on onsite sales, that are focused on developing these innovative, welcoming, hospitality models, tend to be doing better than the ones focused on large distributions,” Gacioch said.
The end of Prohibition
Prohibition Brewing was born from the 2008 recession and a knack for home brewing. The owners worked in construction, so when home-building slowed down after the mortgage crisis, they tried their hand at making beer, General Manager Kyle Adams said.
They made the site cozy, with wood tables and warm lighting. Wall displays showcase the brewery’s awards along with mementos from the Prohibition Era. The brewpub has hosted car shows, clothing sales and puppy adoption drives.
In contrast to the dark, decidedly adult ambience of a bar, Prohibition Brewing offered a space where locals could gather for a family birthday or after a Little League game.
“You’re not going into a dark room with dingy walls,” said Kurt Grover, from neighboring Fallbrook. “It was a social activity. It was a scene.”
Prohibition is on a commercial street in Vista, with an unassuming storefront and little foot traffic. You don’t stumble on it. You have to know it’s there.
“This has become our third place from a friends perspective,” Johnson said, pointing to his drinking companions and referencing the concept of a ‘third place’ for socializing, apart from work or home. “Kurt and I met here. Kathy and I met here. We’re taking active steps toward where our next third place will be.”
Some couples fell in love with their husband or wife at Prohibition Brewing, invited Adams to their weddings, then came back to celebrate anniversaries.
To keep up with evolving tastes, the brewery added lighter lagers, pilseners and fruit-flavored hard seltzers to its tap menu of red ales and IPAs.
They offered “glitter beer,” with shiny glitter particles that “make it look like a unicorn, I guess,” Adams said. Vista resident Jennifer Johnson celebrated her daughter’s 21st birthday at Prohibition, where staff created a custom apple seltzer for the occasion.
Unlike other breweries that found the business doesn’t pencil out anymore, Prohibition is closing because Adams’ parents, who own the building, plan to retire. Adams hopes to sell the business and property to a new owner who can revamp the brewery, but said there are no plans yet.
Stone-cold truth about craft brew
By contrast, Sapporo’s sale of the Stone Brewing brand was a financial calculation. A 2025 corporate disclosure document detailing Sapporo’s business results from the previous year revealed that its U.S. operations “faced unexpected challenges and profitability declined significantly.” Sales of the Stone brand dropped 16 percent between 2022, when it bought the brand, and 2024, it stated.
In April of this year, Sapporo announced it was selling Stone Brewing to the craft beer company Firestone Walker, based in Paso Robles, California, and its Belgian parent company Duvel Moortgat. The new owners will brew Stone beer at their facilities n Paso Robles and Kansas City, Missouri, said Zach Keeling, CEO for Stone USA. They’ll keep the Stone restaurant at San Diego’s Liberty Station and other Southern California taprooms.
But Sapporo is closing Stone’s flagship site in Escondido, a walled garden where guests can stroll around a pond or view enormous beer vats through soaring glass walls in the rustic-industrial interior.
In August Sapporo filed a WARN notice with the California Employment Development Department stating that it expected to lay off 220 employees from its Escondido operations. In September, it revised that upward to 272.
“It’s really sad that consolidation of the brewing industry has led to the closure of Stone in Escondido,” said Francisco Vargas, economic development management analyst for the city.
Social media posts about the closure reveal the way that Stone Escondido has been woven into customers’ lives.
“So many memories including our daughter’s rehearsal dinner,” a Facebook user wrote, adding that she now enjoys “hiking” with her grandson through the brewery’s valley and water features.
A new dad who grew up with Stone Brewing “snuck out” of nearby Palomar Hospital after the birth of his child to toast the milestone at Stone.
“My engagement pictures were taken there,” a woman stated. “The brewery lasted a lot longer than the marriage did.”
But Stone, known for its intense, hoppy IPAs, left some beer fans flat. A detractor posted on Nextdoor that Stone products were too expensive “for a beer that tastes like potpourri.”
As local beer fans brace for the closure, officials are trying to ease the transition. Escondido is working with the San Diego North Economic Development Council and Sapporo to find a new tenant for the site, possibly another brewery, Vargas said. Sapporo is offering job training and hosting a career fair to help laid off employees land on their feet.
“It’s important to highlight the transferability of skills,” Vargas said. “We want to give the Sapporo employees the best chance they can to find a job in Escondido or the broader region, and to make sure they feel supported during this very difficult time.”
Fowler cautioned that while brewing skills are transferable, it might be harder to duplicate the spirit of the craft brew business in another position.
“People who are into brewing tend to be in it for the passion,” he said. “While on its face value it’s a manufacturing job, a lot of those people might not find the same fulfillment making another product.”
Hope for hops
There are some bright spots amid the bad news about craft brewing.
The Roadies Brewing Co., a Vista brewpub featuring a live music stage, shut down in August, only to reopen a month later with new catering and business partners, following public outcry over its closure.
“Roadies is back, baby,” the owners announced triumphantly on Instagram, listing a lineup of punk, ska and alternative music and a tap list of beers with names such as Helles Bells, Deep Cuts and Future Jams.
Despite his inside knowledge of craft brewing’s failures, or perhaps because of that insight, Fowler opened his own brewery last year. He launched Good Pressure Brewing with his wife on Mission Gorge Road in San Diego about five miles north of San Diego State University. They reasoned that suburban communities to the east of the area lacked amenities.
“We were able to find a neighborhood that was thirsty for a brewery and a space that they can claim as their own, that has a local connection,” he said.
Rather than adopt the surf and sea motif of many San Diego breweries, Fowler said they chose a theme reflecting the color palette and botanical features of San Diego’s backcountry, where the couple grew up.
They open their doors to local organizations and nonprofits for meetings and fundraisers, brewed a brown ale to benefit the Center for Plant Conservation, and offer wines and seasonal seltzers to complement their beers.
“For a long time craft beer was almost too cool for itself, dictating the trends for its customers,” he said. “Now it’s moving with our guests and crafting these last few years together.”
