The past year seemed to bring weekly news of a new closure somewhere in the state or warnings that one of its breweries is on the brink of permanently shutting down.
People are drinking less and moving to other alcoholic beverages. At the same time, inflationary pressures are pinching consumers and brewery budgets. Together, those factors make for a shaky outlook. Alamo also took over the ShotGun Seltzer brand, which produces a variety of fizzy drinks including its take on ranch water, a ubiquitous Texas refresher. Founded in Austin, ShotGun merged with AquaBrew in San Marcos in early 2022 for the capacity to produce its seltzers in-house. That operation has since closed, and Alamo took over the ShotGun brands last fall.
For its part, Weathered Souls, a well-known San Antonio brewery with national recognition, has struggled in the wake of its 2022 expansion into the Charlotte, North Carolina, market. The number of brewery closings in the 12 months leading up to last November hit roughly 400, while brewery openings declined to about the same number, according to Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, the trade group representing independent breweries. That compares to 1,200 openings and 250 closings in 2018.