I’m surprised by both. I never loved Kalona’s beer, but they had very good food in a thriving community that’s kinda underserved in terms of drinking establishments.
Franklin Street made legitimately good beer, but I guess I rarely grabbed it at the liquor store. Reading between the lines it sounds like they were burned out and couldn’t find someone to carry it on, but it’s still viable (hence the slow close). A lot of small businesses (especially breweries) are passion projects where the owners are satisfied with breaking even (as they have other income sources). Eventually that grind wears people down and they want more freedom in their free time.
But the craft beer bubble has undeniably burst and it will be interesting to see where the long term sustainable capacity ends up.
