This afternoon, 10 Barrel Brewing took to social media to announce its brewpub in downtown’s East Village will permanently close today. The post cited the negative effects the global health crisis has had on the venue as the reason for its closure, and comes a day after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a regional stay-at-home order that figures to be triggered on a local level in a matter of days.
The post read in part: “The 10 Barrel team has shown incredible resilience in the face of tough challenges this year, we are so proud of them. It has been a pleasure to serve the San Diego community and to get to know local businesses, customers and organizations over the past few years.”
The positivity in the above statement is out of tune with the way the business, which is owned by Big Beer conglomerate AB InBev, was received and regarded during its three-year run. In 2016, news of the brewpub’s impending arrival was met with negativity and, in some cases, outrage, from craft-beer fans and members of the local brewing community. Public opinion among those factions did not thaw in the years that followed, with 10 Barrel operating as an outlier patronized mostly by tourists and customers who did not harbor strong feelings about the Big Beer versus local, independent craft beer debate.
10 Barrel San Diego is located at 1501 E Street in the East Village