Skyrocketing Miami rents just forced another Wynwood brewery to close
Even big beer companies are not immune to rising Miami rents.
Dogfish Head Miami, the local outpost of the Delaware-based brewery owned by the Boston Beer Company, is closing its Wynwood location after its rent spiked, a company spokesperson told the Miami Herald. The brewery’s last day will be Nov. 5.
“With our 10-year lease coming to an end, coupled with the significant rent increases happening throughout Miami, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Dogfish Head Miami taproom on Nov. 5,” a company spokesperson wrote the Miami Herald.
The Boston Beer Company, parent of its flagship Samuel Adams beer, opened the brewery as Concrete Beach in 2014. It was trying to capitalize on the craft beer trend that took root in Wynwood, home to Miami’s first independent brewery, Wynwood Brewing, and the local favorite craft beer bar Boxelder.
But over the years as Wynwood increased in popularity, many local businesses were pushed out by rising rents, replaced by national franchises. Wynwood Brewing was sold to a larger company and Boxelder closed as rents rose. The popular Wood Tavern, one of Wynwood’s biggest early draws, closed, as well.
Only J. Wakefield Brewing remains as the only independent craft beer brewer in Wynwood.
Dogfish Head openly wrote about rising rents on its social media post, first announcing the news.
“We know it’s hard to read, it’s hard for us to type,” the company wrote.
It shows the extent to which Wynwood, a former warehouse and artist enclave where the craft beer trend blossomed in Miami, has changed.
The New York-based East End Capital Partners, which has financed and developed many South Florida properties, owns the lot on which the brewery sits. The spot has been sold four times since 2003, including as part of a $23.5 million deal in 2014. East End split off the parcel in 2017 to a subsidiary.
Rebranding Concrete Beach as Dogfish Head was Boston Beer’s last effort to profit on Miami’s craft beer boom. It tried to retain its local staff, including its head brewer. It tweaked beers to match Dogfish’s style, founded by Sam Calagione, who won a James Beard Foundation award for melding culinary flavors in his “off-centered ales.”
But Boston Beer faced stiff competition here, even from another big brewer, Heineken, which backs Cervecería La Tropical, a pre-Castro Cuban brand that the company bought and has turned into another, competing destination with a more local flavor.
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 1:03 PM.
