So far 2020 has been a terrible year for BC based craft breweries. In just a few short months, we’ve already seen the closure of Vancouver based Coal Harbour Brewing, and Vancouver Island based Axe & Barrel. Now, another BC brewery is rumoured to be shutting down operations: Hearthstone Brewing.
Multiple sources have confirmed that Hearthstone Brewing will no longer be running their brewery operation, and instead will refocus efforts to the onsite restaurant and pizzeria. The timing of this switch has not been confirmed, but it sounds imminent.
Hearthstone has been around since 2014 when they took charge of the beautiful showpiece brewhouse at the former Taylor’s Crossing Restaurant and Brewery. While they have won several awards over the years, they are perhaps best known for two signature beers: the chocolate milk stout and cool hand cucumber sour.
Now take this rumour with a grain of salt. While Ale/Sessions did reach out multiple times for comment and confirmation from the brewery, we did not receive any response. They are also continuing to regularly update their social channels with no mention of any change in service.
We will continue to reach out for comment from the brewery, and will update this post once we have more details.
Ale/Sessions 
Well I did see the head brewer post on facebook that he was told by ownership the brewery was shutting down lol.
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Sometimes a brewpub or brewery/restaurant realizes that operating the brewery side is challenging, competitive and unprofitable, and decides to consolidate on the hospitality side as just a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The upside is that the resulting restaurant typically has good beer.
This has precedent in North Vancouver: Sailor Hagar’s, which was once a very respectable brewery, but is now a regular pub with a craft-forward beer menu. They kept the tradition going by partnering with Howe Sound to present some house brews based on their original brewpub lineup.
Another recent example in Vancouver: Postmark Brewing.
It’s sad for the brewing community, but the brewing community doesn’t pay the rent. For the locals that actually do, they still have a great place to hang out, eat and drink.
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Postmark was always a seperate business from Belgaurd Kitchen and Vancouver Urban Winery.
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Completely agree here, and from a business perspective it makes sense. However, Postmark made a dedicated effort to communicate their changes, and so-far, Hearthstone has been completely non-responsive. Own the change, put it into light that it serves their regulars better to focus in on what’s working, and move on.
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