Craft brewery FX Matt Brewing Co. just sold its Flying Bison Brewing Company to Hamburg Brewing Co. On November 29, it’s closing the Buffalo, New York taproom.
Established in 1888 in Utica, NY, FX Matt Brewing is one of the original US craft brewers. It produces a slew of brands including Saranca, Utica Club, Flying Dog, and Mckenzie’s Hard Cider.
The buyer, NY-based Hamburg Brewing is a family-owned brewery that opened in 2013. The company now owns the Flying Bison recipes and trademarks, and is set to continue producing and distributing its beers.
“Hamburg Brewing is a respected and community-focused craft brewery with a strong presence in Western New York,” Fred Matt, president and CEO of FX Matt Brewing Company said in a press release. “We’re confident they’re the right partner to carry the Flying Bison legacy forward.”
Flying Bison beer will remain available in the stores that offered it before the deal.
It’s a disappointing closure, but several other beer companies have been more unlucky. In fact, many have fully shut down amid recent economic pressures, including higher costs due to inflation and tariffs and a decline in alcohol consumption.
More craft breweries closed than opened in the 12-year period ending June 2025. Nearly 9,270 breweries were open this past June, which is a one percent drop from the roughly 9,350 operating in June last year.
Craft beer sales dropped four percent last year, according to the Brewers Association.
21st Amendment Brewery just shut the doors of its San Francisco-based brewpub and its San Leandro, California brewery and taproom on November 4. The company hadn’t filed for bankruptcy, but its sales had been declining by 20 percent every year since 2021.
“Our San Francisco restaurant has not made money since 2019,” said Nico Freccia, co-founder of 21st Amendment. “We kept waiting for San Francisco to get better and come back, but it didn’t happen.”
The craft brewery’s lender told the company that because of its “cash bleed,” it would no longer fund the company.
According to the Brewers Association, there are 9,900 breweries in the US today compared to the 4,800 that existed a decade ago. But that uptick hasn’t been paralleled by the recent alcohol consumption for adults in the US, which has reached a record low.
Bart Watson, the chief executive and president of the Brewers Association, said the disparity explains the financial struggles that are prevalent in the craft brewing industry today.
“Yes, we’re seeing some bankruptcies. Yes, we’re seeing some closures, but that doesn’t mean the market is going away,” Watson said. “We have a bunch of firms that weren’t prepared for the reality of today.”
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Ava Levinson
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