California brewery to abruptly close after a decade as heartbroken fans caught off guard

Another California small business is tapping out.

Brewery Draconum, a family-owned brewpub that has served Old Town Newhall for nearly a decade, will permanently close its only location after Sept. 28 — delivering another gut punch to the Santa Clarita community.

“Like so many others these past few years, we have tried our hardest to keep up with the rising costs but this economic climate just continues to present us with insurmountable challenges,” the brewery said.

They tried.

They couldn’t make the numbers work anymore.

And in California, the numbers can be brutal.

The closure comes as independent restaurants and breweries across California grapple with rising labor, rent, utility, insurance and supply costs.

The state has some of the highest minimum wage and labor standards in the country, costs that can weigh especially heavily on labor-intensive restaurants and breweries, industry leaders have argued.

Add steep commercial rents and utility bills in Southern California, along with state licensing fees, compliance requirements and insurance costs, and independent operators can find themselves squeezed from every direction.

Brewery Draconum isn’t some giant corporation fleeing California.

It’s a completely independent, family-owned business operating out of one location.

There are no other branches, franchises or production facilities waiting to pick up the slack.

When the doors close Sept. 28, Brewery Draconum is will be gone for good.

The broader tax picture isn’t exactly screaming “come do business here,” either.

California, New Jersey and New York rank as the bottom three states on the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index.

The low rankings are driven by complex income-tax structures, high marginal corporate rates and burdensome payroll taxes.

Brewery Draconum didn’t name California politicians or explicitly blame state policy in its announcement.

But its description of rising costs and an economic climate that has become “insurmountable” comes against the backdrop of a state where small businesses face an expensive and demanding operating environment.

And the timing couldn’t be worse for Old Town Newhall.

Just weeks before Brewery Draconum announced its closure, the nearby Newhall Refinery — a restaurant and bar that had been a fixture of the community for 13 years — was destroyed in an early morning fire Aug. 24.

Several adjacent businesses were also engulfed in the flames.

By the end of the month, Old Town Newhall will have lost two longtime Main Street businesses in barely a month.

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