4 reasons why so many Long Island breweries are closing

When did craft beer brewing become a questionable business decision? Before the pandemic, it seemed like everyone and their home-brewing brother were quitting their day jobs and starting a nanobrewery, but over the past few months Long Island has seen more headlines about closures than openings. 

It started in late November, when one of Long Island's earliest pioneers, Port Jeff Brewing, announced it would close sometime around the end of this year. This was followed by the news that Long Ireland Beer Company in Riverhead would go out with a bang New Year's Eve. A Bay Shore warehouse brewery, Destination Unknown Beer Company, is also on the market and running through their inventory before they plan to close. Also, Lithology Brewing Co. in Farmingdale recently announced plans to close its tasting room and pursue a partnership with Jones Beach Brewing Co. instead. 

So what's going on? Here are four reasons that craft breweries struggled in 2025, with some industry expert tips on how beermakers can weather the storm. 

1. The Long Island beer market became oversaturated

When the Long Ireland Beer Company got started about 15 years ago in Riverhead, there were only a handful of breweries around, general manager Sheila Malone recalled. Then the market exploded. A recent Newsday guide to Long Island's breweries includes nearly 50 businesses in Nassau and Suffolk. That is more than the number of breweries in all of New York City, according to Toast, the company that provides restaurant management and sales software. 

Rich Vandenburgh, the co-founder of Greenport Harbor Brewing Company and former president of the New York State Brewers Association, says it comes down to "the challenge of choice." Not every brewery is going to be the highest quality, and some are more like passion projects than sound business decisions. So when COVID hit, Long Island simply had too many breweries to keep up with changing demand. 

"The public was curious and the farm-to-table component was hitting its stride. That propelled a lot of that growth," he said. "People were interested. Banks saw strength in numbers and demand. Everybody was running at it. But we got to 2019, there’s a lot of choices."

2. People are drinking less these days

Port Jeff Brewing Company owner Michael Philbrick said he's seen cultural attitudes toward drinking shift in the past decade. "The legalization of marijuana comes into play. COVID and the general attitude of the public with regard to going out, people will stay home and, in general, drink less now than they did in the past," he said. "I especially see that in the younger generation."

Malone also sees health issues fueling less consumption, particularly with younger people "cutting back because they’ve been told alcohol is bad for you and they’re listening to that." Other business owners cited the rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs with a decrease in drinking. 

Some brewery owners have shifted their tap list toward lower-alcohol beers like pilsners, rather than the higher alcohol-by-volume (ABV) India pale ales.

Philbrick's business plan included holding lots of community events that would draw people in, which helped pad his bottom line over the years.

3. Tariffs are increasing pressure

The craft beer industry hasn't been hit quite like the wine business when it comes to tariffs, because many of the ingredients in craft beer come from the United States. But one key material, the aluminum used in cans, has seen price increases because much of it is imported from Canada. 

"Tariffs have created uncertainty about what you can get where you can get it," Vandenburgh said. "When you’re super focused on what your margin is for your beer. But if you’re packaging your beer and trying to sell it through a grocery store, the distributor’s taking a cut, the store’s taking a cut. ... It's really difficult to price. Uncertainty causes concern and you start to lose sleep worrying about one week to the next." 

In addition, Vandenburgh said there have been fluctuations in the price of grain, some of which also comes from Canada. Because people aren't brewing as much beer, production goes down, and the price can fluctuate dramatically. When you add that to the rising cost of labor, you have a difficult combination, he said. 

4. Changing business models

Malone said that when Long Ireland Beer Company started around 2010, liquor license regulations were different from what they are today. 

"It wasn’t even legal to pour a full pint. You had to give away free samples. Having a bar wasn’t part of business model," she said. At that time, Long Ireland and other breweries were geared more toward the wholesale customer than they are now. That's why many of the original breweries, like Blue Point Brewery, started out as warehouses and didn't have large tasting rooms.

"Regulations have changed, and because of that, it’s extremely important to sell through your own tasting room, versus selling wholesale to restaurants. So that has posed its own unique problems. Our tasting room is small in comparison to some of the other newer very large facilities," she said. 

Chris Candiano, of Destination Unknown Beer Company in Bay Shore, told Newsday that he thinks to succeed, breweries need to focus more on food. 

"People are looking for basically a restaurant that makes its own beer. That's where the industry is headed," he said. Malone agrees that breweries with a full kitchen are lasting longer in today's market. But pivoting is rife with challenges.

"Most brewers didn’t start a business to own a restaurant," she said. "They started to brew beer, but they’re really different business models."