There are some of you who were rooting for this one to happen. You had strong misconceptions about who the people behind The Queen City Brewery were, and I think that’s the hardest part for me. I think that if you want to say you didn’t like their location, or their taproom vibe wasn’t your thing I can understand that – but I just wish more people had given themselves a chance to see what it was all really about.
Queen City had some really great people behind it, who’s passion for creating a special spot for people was evident when you stepped foot in their door and it sucks to see things come to this.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the latest news out of the Cincinnati beer world is that QCBC is closing their doors in September (or earlier if they run out of beer). Instead of posting all the details, I’ll share the social media post that they put up yesterday:
**Please read**
We promised an announcement today, so here it goes.
We have collectively decided to close down our operations. And will be officially closed at the end of September, or sooner…depends on how long the beer we have left lasts us.
It’s with a heavy heart that we make this announcement. We embarked on this adventure because we are truly passionate about making great beer, and we wanted to share our passion with the community.
Unfortunately a lot has changed in the industry over the past few years, and people were either wanting more than we could afford to provide, or had an expectation of who they wanted us to be.
We’ve advertised ourselves in a way that lends itself to reality. Our slogan, which can be found on our website and FB page states that we are not about glitz, glam, or glitter. We are about solid beer, people and the community. Not fads or trends.
Over the course of almost three years, we partnered with several individuals and groups to raise money for community fundraisers. We did this, not for the marketing, but because we truly care about the Greater Cincinnati Community.
In order for a small business like ours to succeed, we relied on the local community to support us, just as we supported the local community. For whatever reason, we were never fully embraced.
Regardless of the reasons why we are closing, we’d like to thank those that came in as strangers and in the long run, became great friends. You all know who you are, and Thank You. We think of all of you as our extended QCB Family.
We will be hosting a fire sale on merchandise and anything that is not bolted/nailed down.
Feel free to stop by and grab a pint.
$5 pints til the beer is gone
Sincerely,
The QCB Team
The brewery is selling off their equipment and moving on. It’s a failure not of a Cincinnati brewery, but of this community – It’s a failure of people like me.
It’s easy to just take this as a news story. It’s easy to play with the idea that there’s some kind of Craft Beer Bubble that is bursting and move on with your day. As craft beer fans, though, I think we should spend a little time with this, as we should whenever one of our breweries close. This isn’t the fault of some kind of ‘market’ or of drinking trends, or evolution of craft beer… or whatever you want to say it is.
At the end of the day, when one of our breweries closes, it’s because of us. It’s because of me. You can always identify, as a drinker, lots of things that you would have changed or done differently that you think might have ‘saved’ a place. At the end of the day they just needed more support. As a drinker, I should have been at that bar more. As a blogger I should have done a better job of telling people why they needed to stop by. As a friend… I should have done a better job.
Life will move on, of course. Blue Ash has two other breweries that are doing their thing, with one more set to open at Firehouse Grill, but it should still sting a little bit if you’re a fan of Cincinnati craft beer.
I’m sorry. To QC – to Cincinnati, to Blue Ash – and to every person that for them Queen City Brewing Company was their spot.