California malthouse and taproom with historic cred closing after 9-year run

They’re turning off the spigot.

Trendy Bay Area beer bar The Rake and its adjacent malthouse Admiral Maltings will close this month after nine years in business, citing financial difficulties.

Admiral Maltings stopped production on October 2 — while The Rake will officially close on October 18, making the business the latest casualty in California’s declining craft beer industry, which has faced significant headwinds in 2026.

“We wish it weren’t so. We’ve never worked harder on anything,” The Rake wrote in a late September Instagram post. “We’ve treasured the connections and community we’ve created with California farmers, the breweries and distilleries we’ve worked with, and everyone who helped us revive and innovate the craft of floor malting.”

“Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t make and sell malt economically,” the post continued. “Although we have reached out to many professional colleagues and professional partners over the last couple of years in an effort to carry Admiral Maltings into the future, we no longer possess the resources to push forward.”

Located on the former Alameda Naval Air Station, The Rake was known for its wide variety of taps using malt produced from Admiral Maltings, which became California’s first craft malting factory since prohibition when it opened in 2017.

The closure follows a trend of craft beer business closings in recent years.

481 craft breweries closed across the U.S. in 2025, while just 300 new ones opened, according to a April 2026 report from the Brewer’s Association. Since 2024, the number of taprooms has decreased 2.7%, while the number of microbreweries decreased 4.4%.

Beer market sales are down nationwide. U.S. beer market sales fell 3% from $116.8 billion to $113.1 billion in 2025.

Beer production began to decline in 2022, a trend that has continued each year since. The Brewers Association says the decline could be due to rise of  non-alcoholic options and THC-infused beverages.

The study also revealed that high inflation has increased beer production costs, causing breweries to raise prices.

In August, Stone Brewing, one of the largest breweries in Southern California, closed three factories in Escondido, laying off near 300 workers. The company will move production to San Luis Obispo and Kansas City.

MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., a cult-favorite brewery in Van Nuys closed its doors after 12 years in September, following the closure of Electric Brewery in Murrieta and Rock Brewery in Berkeley.

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