The founders of 21st Amendment Brewery, with a production facility in San Leandro and a brewpub near the ballpark in San Francisco, announced today that they will be closing both locations, and winding down the business in the coming months.
Co-owners Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia founded the brewery in 2000 — 25 years ago. The business began as a brewpub, but they later began canning their beer and were one of the first in both California, and the country, to put all of their beer in cans, presaging the craft can revolution that’s taken place over the past two decades.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, 21st Amendment opened a large brewing facility in San Leandro, and widely distributed their beer in cans across the United States. The brewery also began doing contract brewing, making beer for other companies.
Like many breweries, sales suffered considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as people began drinking less both during and after the pandemic, they tried to figure out how to stay ahead of the curve with their business. They brought in a financial partner and upgraded and retooled the brewery so that they could look beyond the beer, and create other liquid products, such as energy drinks and other alternative beverages.
According to O’Sullivan and Freccia, that worked for a time, but the drinks business has not recovered or returned to pre-pandemic numbers, so their partner decided to withdraw support. That resulted in the difficult and bittersweet decision to close the business, they said.
O’Sullivan said in an interview that they are hoping to make the last few months a celebration of all they’ve accomplished over 25 years. The 2nd Street brewpub closing will likely close first — and that shutdown may coincide with the San Francisco Giants’ last regular-season home game on Sept. 28.
In the meantime, they’re also hoping to find a buyer for either the 21st Amendment brand, and/or the brewery facilities, as they wind down production and fill the last beer cans of “Brew Free! Or Die Blood Orange IPA,” “El Sully,” or “Hell or High Watermelon.”
