Today the news broke that local brewery NorthGate has ceased operations. I only recently learned that they had sold the business to an investor, and it appears that the new owners decided it was time to shut it down. This is a sad day, as this was one of my favorite breweries in the metro area. They brewed English style beers, and actually knew how to brew them well. My wife, and my Beer & Bikes group has been there many, many times. They were also big soccer fans and you would see dozens of scarves on the wall from teams around the world.

Running a business is hard, and the world of small breweries is still somewhat unknown for many people. The level of competition in a growing market such as the Twin Cities, the level of distribution, location, and a host of other factors make for a complex environment to do business. Many of us have wondered how many of the new breweries would make it, long-term, and amazingly only a couple have closed so far. I just wish this wasn’t one of them.