San Francisco-born craft beer operation Magnolia Brewing Co. — which for several years has been partly owned by the cofounder of New Belgium Brewing Kim Jordan — is downsizing and returning back, after eight years, to just having its Upper Haight flagship location.
The brewery announced on Instagram Monday morning that next Sunday, February 20, will be the last day of operations for Magnolia Dogpatch — the large brewpub that opened in 2014 under former owner and brewery co-founder Dave McLean. Eater was subsequently the first to report the news.
"COVID-19 has been a huge challenge for every hospitality business, including ours," the owners write. "When it came time to renew our lease in the Dogpatch, we made the tough decision to refocus our attention solely on Magnolia’s original home in the Haight, which is full of tradition, great beer, and good people."
The Dogpatch location, originally opened with a barbecue restaurant called Smokestack attached, ended up being a financial drain for McLean, leading to a bankruptcy filing in December 2015. McLean founded Magnolia in the Haight back in 1997, brewing beers in an English style out of the brewpub's basement, and becoming one of the pioneers in a new wave of craft beer in the Bay Area. He would end up selling the business two decades later, in 2017, to Jordan and partners Dick Cantwell (Elysian Brewing), and Belgian brewer Oud Beersel.
McLean went on to found Admiral Maltings, the Alameda-based malt supplier that also has its own brewpub called The Rake.
Jordan would end up selling New Belgium in 2019 to Lion Little World Beverages, a subsidiary of Japanese beverage giant Kirin. And despite reports that Magnolia had become part of the New Belgium with the 2017 sale to Jordan, it appears the three co-owners have kept Magnolia as an independent operation.
They tell Eater today that the decision to close had mostly to do with the lease being up, and the landlord essentially saying they'd already found a new tenant for the space. (It isn't clear exactly what happened, though.)
And the Dogpatch closure certainly seems to have been unplanned, after the place underwent a significant remodel in 2018.
"We’ve loved our time in the Dogpatch and will miss our neighbors there, but we’re excited to continue welcoming our entire community at Magnolia Haight," the owners said.