USA, MN: Fair State Brewing Cooperative to close down its St. Paul production facility

Fair State Brewing Cooperative is scaling back in a significant way.

In a memo sent to staff, obtained by Bring Me The News and confirmed by an employee, the brewery says it has continued to face "headwinds" after exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy last summer. It will now close down its St. Paul production facility, a move that will include layoffs.

"We plan to sell our assets, transfer the lease to a third party, and wind down over the coming months," the letter from CEO Evan Sallee states, adding that the change will only impact its production facility and not its Minneapolis taproom.

Representatives for Fair State Brewing Cooperative did not respond to a request for comment.

The taproom and its small-batch brewery will remain open, according to the memo, as will Chef JohnMichael Lynch's Farina Rossa pizza counter, which recently began serving food in the taproom.

Lynch tells Bring Me The News that the changes won't impact Farina Rossa's taproom service.

Sallee's memo adds that Fair State will "create partnerships" to handle "large-scale production" of its most popular beers in an effort to keep them available outside of the taproom. "Favorites like Pils, Mirror Universe, and others will still be available year-round," the letter states.

While the memo does not go into detail, it says the "operational changes" will include layoffs. "The reality is that we have exhausted every means possible," he writes. "Without these changes, we simply do not have any other way to keep Fair State doing business at all."

Fair State became the nation's first unionized microbrewery in 2020 after the company voluntarily recognized staff's unionization efforts. Workers unionized with Unite Here 17, which represents service industry workers at many restaurants, bars, and hotels in Minnesota.

"We’re saddened by Fair State’s announcement," a representative for Unite Here tells Bring Me The News. "Workers in this industry deal with uncertainty, but they don’t have to resign themselves to feeling powerless. Because Fair State workers are union members, they have already won some safeguards in their union contract to deal with the impact and have ways to bargain together for more compensation than they would get if each worker was facing a layoff or closure alone."

Last February, Fair State filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time, it said the move was part of a plan to recover from significant debts that started with the pandemic.

In August, Fair State announced that it had exited bankruptcy.

It had projected that sales could surpass $14 million by 2027, according to court filings reported by the Star Tribune. It had also planned to put the new profits into $3.3 million worth of new equipment over the next three years, according to the report.

No timeline was provided for when the St. Paul production facility will close outside of a statement that it will "wind down over the coming months."

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