2024-09-20 / 2024-09-20 by Beergeek

City Beer Store has been very influential in the local beer scene. Amazingly so. That’s why it’s so painful that they announced today that they are closing up shop after 18 years. The pandemic hit them hard, as did the move to the slow to build Mid-Market area. But this still comes as a shock after their downsizing to the old Amnesia bar space in the Mission. Craig and Beth should be thanked for all they have done for beer and brewers in San Francisco. City Beer will be greatly missed. Their full statement after the jump.

Dearest City Beer Community

City Beer Store is closing after 18 years. There is simply no easy way to say these words and the more we worked on a note to say goodbye the more muddled it became. This not what we hoped for the little store we opened in 2006, this is not the choice we wanted to make, it’s the choice we felt must be made. The circumstances that brought us to this difficult decision are vast, and we cannot point to one issue. It is a combination of many factors we could not overcome despite trying so very hard.

This little store has been truly loved along its 18 year journey; through the brightest of times, through the stormiest of times, it has been nurtured. In no small part thanks to the community surrounding it.

So many, many, many thanks: thank you to our incredible staff over the years. Thank you to our loyal customers: the locals, the travelers, and the patrons far and wide. And thank you to the long list of breweries, importers and wholesales we call friends.

We hold you dear, thank you for letting us into your lives.

City Beer has always been more than a bar and bottleshop, City Beer has been a home. A place that saw wedding showers, memorials, therapy sessions, birthdays, first dates, first sips, hellos, and goodbyes. And so, with these thoughts we hope you’ll fondly remember our quirky little store that was raised on Folsom Street, headed up to Mission Street for a new experience, and finally shifted over to a colorful life on Valencia Street.

Like the platypus, City Beer is a sum of many parts, may this next part be a new opening, a new adventure. Thank you for giving us a seat at the table, we loved being part of the conversation.

Sip, sip, sip
Craig and Beth Wathen

City Beer will be open limited hours the weekend of September 20th and closed after that. See the City Beer website for full details.