As craft brewers grapple with the segment’s downturn, owners are seeking ways to exit the industry.
Midway through 2025, Brewers Association (BA) staff economist Matt Gacioich took stock of operating craft breweries and found June 2025 (9,269 open breweries) declined 1% compared to June 2024 (9,352 open breweries). Industry volume is on pace to decline for the third consecutive year.
Several brewery owners have publicly courted buyers by announcing their intentions to sell their businesses. Others have found buyers and have announced sales. Below are updates from three breweries – all of which opened during the last decade’s craft beer boom – in transition.
Iowa’s 515 Brewing for Sale
The owners of 515 Brewing (Clive, Iowa) are searching for an exit after 12 years and have listed the brewery for sale.
“Opening a brewery and crafting our own beer was a dream come true,” founder and co-owner Ryan Rost said in a press release. “The most rewarding part was sharing our beer with our community. We are beyond grateful to everyone who has supported us. We’d love to see someone bring new life to 515 Brewing and take it to the next level.”
Rost and co-founders Bailey Forrest, Dave Ropte and Brandon Criger’s decision to move on aligns with longtime head brewer Barb Becker’s retirement. During her decade at 515, Becker’s beers earned two gold medals at the Brewers Association’s (BA) Great American Beer Festival (GABF).
“Barb leaves behind a legacy of creativity, craftsmanship, and consistency that helped define 515 Brewing,” a press release said.
Production of new beers ended earlier this month, but 515’s taproom remains open as a buyer is sought.
In 2024, 515 produced 388 barrels of beer, according to data from the BA.
NJ’s Eclipse Brewing Sold
Eclipse Brewing (Merchantville, New Jersey) is slated to change hands next week, when incoming owner Megan Hilbert will acquire it from founders Chris and Beth Mattern, who shared the news on social media.
“After almost nine years as a thriving business and community hub in Merchantville, we are ‘hopping’ into retirement,” the Matterns wrote. “It was important to us to find someone who can continue our legacy with the help of our staff so we are thrilled that Megan Hilbert, a local entrepreneur will take ownership on August 15, 2025.
“Megan’s youth, energy and fresh ideas will keep Eclipse going strong,” they continued.
Hilbert owns and operates Red’s Rolling Restaurant, a fleet of three food trucks serving South Jersey.
Chris Mattern spent decades as a home brewer before opening Eclipse in 2016. At Eclipse, he focused on small batches, brewing thrice weekly on a 1.5-barrel system, according to the brewery’s website.
Eclipse produced 205 barrels of beer in 2024, according to BA data.
Old Planters Seeks Buyer
The founders of Old Planters Brewing (Beverly, Massachusetts) are uprooting themselves from their 10-year-old brewery.
Matt Sullivan and Ben Garry have announced their decision to step away from the brewery by the end of the year, with plans to sell the business.
“It’s truly been surreal to watch our vision of creating a brewery come to life and watch our taproom become a community meeting space for family, friends and the arts,” they wrote. “Your support over the past 10 years has meant the world to us.
“However, as we are getting older and the demands of family life and our regular day jobs continue to grow, we’ve decided that this will be our last year running Old Planters,” Sullivan and Garry continued. “It’s become clear to us over the past year that our business deserves more time than we can currently give it in order for it to continue to grow.”
Old Planters began self-distribution in 2015 and opened its brewery and taproom in a former auto body shop in 2019. The brewery’s downtown Beverly neighborhood is home to three other breweries (Coastal Mass. Brewing, Backbeat Brewing and Gentile Brewing), and the proximity has inspired semi-regular Beverly Beer Mile events.
Old Planters was the first brewery licensed in the city, about 24 miles north of Boston. In 2024, the brewery produced 83 barrels of beer, according to the BA.