USA, CA: Pedro Point Brewing announces permanent closure

Pedro Point Brewing, which opened as Pacifica’s first brewery in March 2018, has permanently closed, Palo Alto Online reported on November 30.

Co-owner and Pacifica resident Roberta Gamble started the microbrewery with a couple of friends, and the operation remained locally focused and owned.

“We really wanted to put something in the Pacific Manor location,” she said. “A couple businesses had recently left. It was nice to bring not just Pacifica’s first brewery, but something to that part of town.”

Over the years, Pedro Point Brewing became known as a family-friendly, dog-friendly Coastside brewery with regular food pop-ups and a weekly trivia night. The business offered a rotation of its own beers and seltzers on-site and at local spots like A Grape in the Fog and the San Benito House.

But the brewery “suffered a downturn like everybody did during the pandemic,” Gamble said.

“We thought more business would come back than actually materialized,” she said. “We were looking for buyers and did entertain very serious offers over the last year, but at the end of the day they didn’t materialize and we decided it was best to close.”

Pedro Point Brewing’s final day of business was Oct. 30.

“There was a lot of surprise, of course, but people who knew us knew we weren’t quite where we wanted to be performance-wise,” Gamble said when asked about the reaction to the closure announcement. “There were hundreds of comments online, all very supportive.”

While Gamble went through an unpredictable time as a business owner during COVID, she said she wouldn’t change anything about the experience.

“I wish I could still say I owned a brewery instead of ‘I used to own a brewery,’” Gamble said. “I’m still working through all the feels after the fact, but it was an amazing experience.

“It’s still an exciting time to be in beer or any business,” she added. “As a business owner you just have to be ready to take some hits, but I think that’s always the case. Even if there’s a rise in the market it never lasts forever.”