San Francisco-based Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery closed for good on Sunday, October 30, CEO Tim Obert announced via email last week.
“Unfortunately, the lasting effects of the pandemic on our business have made it impossible for us to continue operating,” Obert wrote. “Although our team kept their heads high and continued to work through the challenges, we were hit with massive supply chain delays that made it impossible for us to even get the cartons or cans we needed to run our business. Meanwhile, we continued to service massive amounts of debt and repayment plans just to keep our doors open.”
Several factors compounded Seven Stills’ situation, and the brewery was “unfortunately hit with some of the worst timing possible,” Obert wrote. Seven Stills began a major expansion project in 2018 that “grew in complexities” and cost triple what the brewery was expecting. It opened in late 2019 after Seven Stills had to “take on way more debt than we had expected.”
Several months after the new brewery opened, the California Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) suspended its license for 90 days in February 2020 for violations of the state’s tied house laws. The next month, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of on-premise facilities nationwide. California enacted stricter and longer-lasting pandemic protocols than other states.
Seven Stills never received much-needed relief from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund or further Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Obert wrote.
“I know for a fact that there are thousands of other small businesses that are hanging on by a thread that feel like they have been left out to die and they need your support,” he wrote. “Sure, the pandemic may seem to be over, but for small businesses it is just getting started.”
An August 6 update on Seven Stills’ page on crowdfunding site WeFunder touts the inclusion of Seven Stills’ kolsch, pilsner and IPA in San Francisco Safeway stores in the chain’s fall reset. In June, Obert reported to investors that Seven Stills gained statewide chain authorizations from BevMo, Total Wine, Whole Foods and Raley’s and the company was “actively speaking with several large distributors for Southern California and the Central Valley.”
As of October 31, the crowdfunding campaign raised $70,150 of Seven Stills’ $5 million goal. Eater SF reported the company will return all funds to investors as it ceases operations.
In 2021, Seven Stills produced 1,700 barrels of beer, according to the May/June edition of the BA’s New Brewer.
Seven Stills did not return requests for comment.