Craft Beer Magazine "The Growler" is calling it quits

Craft Beer
Photo credit (Getty Images / CabecaDeMarmore)

Chalk up another business casualty to the coronavirus pandemic, as "The Growler" has officially decided to stop publishing their magazine following the August issue. 

In a letter published on their site Thursday, Matt Kenevan who is the owner, founder, and publisher of The Growler said they just couldn't pay the bills anymore because the pandemic hit the food and beverage industries so hard.

"We heavily rely on for advertising in order to pay to produce our free publication," Kenvan wrote. "Moreover, going without a year’s worth of festivals to support the magazine compromises the publication’s sustainability into future years. Expenses are ongoing, but our income is not. I love what we’ve built here, and we’ll wrap things up with our heads held high for having done excellent work."

With a heavy heart today, we are announcing that the August 2020 print issue of The Growler will be our last. Please read this letter from Founder and Publisher Matt Kenevan for more information.https://t.co/Hg6WaaEUJR

— The Growler Magazine (@growlermag) July 23, 2020

Kenvan also notes that there were 15 full-time staff who will be affected by the shutdown of the publication. 

Following the 2011 Minnesota state law change that allowed production sites to sell beer in "tap rooms", Kenvan started a community publication to spotlight the exploding craft beer scene in Minnesota.  Since starting in 2012, they have published 80 issues, with August 2020 being the final one.  

They went on to cover food and restaurants across the region as well as wine, spirits and other arts, culture, outdoors and other topics.  It became much more than just local brews.  

One of the most popular events put forth by The Growler was the Beer Dabbler, a gathering of some of Minnesota's finest beer makers with food and entertainment.  Cancelled for 2020, Kenvan has good news for beer lovers. "When large events come back en vogue, The Beer Dabbler will resume."

Kenvan finishes his note saying, " Thank you for making The Growler a part of your lives. It’s truly been an honor to have brought you this magazine over these past eight years."