The taps will soon run dry at yet another Southern California brewery.
Prohibition Brewing Company — a family-owned staple that spent the last decade and a half serving pints to thirsty locals in North County San Diego — announced the doors will shut for good at the end of this month, as its owners prepare to sell the business.
The latest last call news comes on the heels of the shock announcement that another local staple, world-renowned Stone Brewing, was shuttering its Escondido campus this fall, laying off hundreds.
Prohibition’s Vista brewpub was founded by Ron, Kathy and Kyle Adams in 2011, and the sprawling 6,687-square-foot property hit the market for $2.75 million.
“Many people have been asking, and here is our official word,” the company wrote in a blunt Instagram post this week. “After nearly 15 years, we have decided to sell. After this weekend we will have blowout sales on all kegs and cans.”
Owner Kyle Adams said the decision reportedly comes as his parents are ready to retire and he is ready for a change, while acknowledging that inflation and increasingly cautious consumers have made the business tougher to maintain.
Prohibition owns its building and equipment, and Adams said he believes there is still money to be made by whoever takes over.
The $2.75M offering comes with over 6,500-square-feet across three commercial structures sitting on adjacent parcels totaling over an acre.
The setup comes fully outfitted as a turnkey restaurant, taproom, and commercial brewing hub, with equipment lists available for buyers who are eager to step into brewing operations.
However, brokers note that the high-visibility corridor near Highway 76 and Highway 78 makes it ripe for redevelopment or retail positioning.
“Next two weeks, I can pretty much guarantee we’ll be here at full capacity,” Adams told Fox 5 local news. “But we’re gonna stop ordering food, we’ve stopped brewing. So eventually, products will run out, and if staff get other jobs, then we’ll be short on staff as well.”
Prohibition’s farewell comes during an brutal stretch for San Diego County’s once-booming beer industry. More than 20 breweries have reportedly called it quits over the past couple of years.
Days before news of the closure broke, a Reddit user posted about spotting a “For Sale” outside of the brewery under the headline, “Pssst… wanna buy a brewery?”
The poster said they had recently had lunch there, and found just one employee manning the bar and dining room, adding that even on weekends the brewery was no longer “packed like they used to be.”
“Breweries ran their course,” one local chimed in. “Going out is a luxury for many now.”