Award-winning brewery closes facility after Chapter 11 bankruptcy

More award-winning craft breweries are collapsing in the Craft Beer Apocalypse and permanently shutting down operations.

Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner Olfactory Brewing closed its San Francisco brewery in December 2025, Berkeley, Calif., taproom in February 2026, and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on March 4, facing unsustainable costs, according to social media posts.

Memphis Made Brewing closes its taproom, but will continue making beer and distributing.

Shutterstock

Memphis Made Brewing closes facilities

And now, popular craft brewer Memphis Made Brewing Company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 7, 2025, about a year after closing its original brewery location, will close its second taproom on March 29, 2026.

The brewery said customers will still be able to buy Memphis Made beer around Shelby County, Tenn., for the foreseeable future, as it will continue to brew and distribute its beer, according to a Facebook post.

Its restaurant at Memphis International Airport will also remain open for business, the post said.

“After much consideration, we are closing our Edge District taproom,” the brewery said on its Facebook page on March 23. “Our last day will be March 29th.”

The brewery, founded in 2013, thanked its customers in a Facebook post for their support.

“We want to thank everyone who has come and visited us over the years,” the post said. “Whether you came in once or we saw you every week, we thank you. Being a part of a community as special as Memphis has been a true honor. Cheers.”

Brewer closes original location in 2024

Memphis Made Brewing closed its original brewery and taproom in July 2024 in the Midtown Cooper-Young neighborhood when its landlord wanted the space to expand his own business.

The company consolidated its operations in its Downtown Memphis location, where it began brewing beer earlier in 2024. 

The debtor did not indicate a reason for filing for bankruptcy on social media, its website, or in its petition

Memphis Made Brewing assured its customers in a Facebook post that it would continue operating after filing for bankruptcy in August 2025, according to WREG-TV3 in Memphis.

“After the reorganization process, we believe we’ll be a better brewery on the other side,” the brewery said at the time.

Brewery had only Memphis taproom

Memphis Made was the fourth craft brewery to open in the city and was the only one with a taproom when it launched 12 years ago, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.

The brewery expanded its distribution over the years from Tennessee to Mississippi and Missouri.

The brewery’s owners hinted that they would seek a buyer for the company when they filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2025.

“When Drew (Barton) and I started Memphis Made, we really wanted to help make the city’s beer scene better,” co-owner Andy Ashby said at the time of the filing, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Memphis Made hopes to find a buyer

“Now there are more than a dozen breweries and brewpubs in Shelby County and we like to think we contributed a small part to the growth of craft beer in this area. We look forward to finding someone to continue that legacy,” Ashby said.

The continuing Craft Beer Apocalypse may have prevented the brewery from finding a buyer for its facilities.

The craft brewery has won several awards over the years, including a No. 2 ranking among the nation’s best airport bars from USA Today in 2023, the Commercial Appeal said.

Related: 79-year-old Home Depot rival closes hardware store, no bankruptcy

#Awardwinning #brewery #closes #facility #Chapter #bankruptcy