Popular SoCal brewery known for traditional ales – Business News
On a Sunday afternoon within the San Fernando Valley, shattered patrons and workers got here collectively for a going away occasion of a beloved establishment.
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., a cult-favorite Van Nuys brewery — known for its old-school British cask ales and home made pizzas, and neighborhood vibe — introduced it’s shutting down on September 27, marking the most recent casualty on Los Angeles’ brutal small-business panorama.
Alastair Boase stands outdoors MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. on Sunday, September 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
Founded in 2014 by husband and spouse duo Alastair and Jennifer Boase, MacLeod’s was one of the valley’s first craft breweries.
“We were not afraid to pick a city that was a little bit shabby. We weren’t snobbish about where we should be,” mentioned Co-founder Alastair Boase advised the California Post. “We thought, ‘Hey, Van Nuys needs something like this.’”
The brewery distinguished itself by going all in on “real ale” — with imported English grains, naturally carbonated, cask-conditioned beer.
Beers are served at MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
For more than a decade, MacLeod’s introduced a regular stream of younger, hip Angelenos to a gritty stretch of Calvert St. known best for a string of auto physique outlets.
“It’s sad that we’re leaving and the fact that Budweiser is still here doing fine,” mentioned Boase, referencing Anheuser-Busch’s Van Nuys brewery.
The business did their best to make people really feel at home — in any manner they might.
Ben Febre pours beers at MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. in Los Angeles, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
“We provided a wonderful little community center of sorts. We did darts. We did cornhole. We did giant Jenga. We did wonderful board game nights,” Boase recounted.
“We hosted birthday parties, going away parties, retirement parties, every kind of celebration you can imagine. And then we opened a pizza kitchen four years in, and then became a world-class pizzeria,” he mentioned.
MacLeod’s is one of quite a few impartial breweries closing its doorways, reportedly due declining demand and rising prices. Those pressures are being felt all through Southern California’s craft beer industry — and all throughout the nation.
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. is pictured on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
481 craft breweries closed throughout the U.S. in 2025 — whereas simply 300 new ones opened, in keeping with the Brewer’s Association.
The idea boomed within the 2010s. But now, the market is correcting as client tastes are altering.
People are ingesting much less beer and alcohol usually, and eating places and breweries throughout California grapple with rising labor, rent, utility, insurance coverage and provide prices.
“We changed as much as we could, but there was a lot of energy, a lot of time, a lot of money to keep it going,” Boase mentioned. “I feel it was simply the chances have been in opposition to us.
The brewery’s demise comes amid a devastating wave of restaurant and bar closures battering the City of Angels. Crushed below the weight of hovering business rents, payments, and inflation, hospitality operators throughout the area appear to be dropping like flies.
MacLeod’s financial struggles have been hardly a secret. As far back as 2014, the homeowners acknowledged the tough economics of opening a small brewery. The business has endured earlier closure scares up to now, making the latest announcement much less of a shock to longtime followers.
Last Sunday, Boase and his crew hosted a bittersweet gathering of its most loyal clients and pals — a closing celebration of a business that fostered group within the space.
People hang around at MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
Grant Paulis had been a common at MacLeod’s since day one. He drank there each single day in its first two months of opening.
“There was nothing anywhere close by that was even sort of resembling a cool local brewery,” Paulis mentioned. “And we were here the first day, and there were lines around the block. It was like Beatlemania in here.”
Paulis is one of many MacLeod tremendous followers, many of whom would voluntarily wash dishes simply to help out.
Grant Paulis carries beers out to pals at MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. on Sunday, September 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
“Between my brother and I, we own every T-shirt and every can of beer, every glass, every little knick-knack, every tchotchke, every shirt, every weird sticker, everything McLeod has ever made, because we are such super fans,” he mentioned.
Paulis has been bringing his four-year-old son to MacLeod’s since he may stroll. “I kind of held a special goal in my life to one day drink my first beer with my son here, but it’s not going to happen,” he mentioned.
Rhiannon Godinez lived in Van Nuys for 5 years and mentioned she “literally would bring everybody here. It was just the brewery that I would recommend for celebrations, for birthdays, for ‘hey, let’s go grab a drink.’”
Rhiannon Godinez holds her beer at MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
Another common, Carolina, discovered MacLeod’s on a stroll someday. “I was like, we’re in the middle of all these tire shops. And there’s this light nestled within all of that.”
“And there actually were musicians right in the main area, all around in a circle, playing different music. And it was just so cozy and inviting that we ended up coming regularly,” she continued.
One common advised the California Post that MacLeod’s stood out for its down-to-earth atmosphere.
People collect at MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
“We don’t always want to go to Ventura Boulevard, Studio City,” mentioned the longtime Van Nuys resident. “This feels more authentic or legitimate. Those other places feel a little bit pretentious in my opinion.”
“When my daughter was on her soccer team, we came here and celebrated some wins. We celebrate birthdays for kids here, which is weird. You know adults are having beer and the kids are eating cake,” he continued.
The brewery first introduced the closure in an emotional social media post, admitting that holding the faucets operating is solely unimaginable in immediately’s financial climate.
Employees and patrons collect outdoors MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
“We had big dreams back in 2014, and we worked very hard to make them come true, as every mom and pop business does,” the post learn. “But today we have to wake up to the reality that our family business is no longer viable.”
While they already shuttered the pizza kitchen, employees vowed to keep pouring till the bitter finish — this coming Sunday.
“We have plenty of your favorite MacLeod beers on hand, let’s drain the tanks dry before we turn out the lights,” Boase wrote.
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