Wednesday was the final 鈥榣ast call鈥� for Chemainus鈥� Riot Brewing Co.
The craft brewery in Chemainus Village Square has closed its doors for good, the victim of a variety of financial circumstances that are being felt by countless small businesses across the country. Riot鈥檚 $40,000 repayment of a $60,000 Canada Emergency Business Account loan it received following COVID was due Jan. 18 and compounded by its landlord only offering a minuscule amount of time from Saturday to Wednesday to pay its bills.
鈥淲e fell behind in rent,鈥� said Ralf Rosenke, Riot鈥檚 co-owner along with Aly Tomlin.
The pair has been in difficult spots like this before since first conceiving the idea for the brewery in 2009 and then enduring many ups-and-downs before Riot Brewing Co. finally opened its doors in November 2016. Not the least of their extenuating circumstances was the windstorm of December 2018 that cut power to Chemainus for up to five days in places and hammered businesses for much longer to get back on track.
Many patrons who packed the place Tuesday and Wednesday once word leaked out that the brewery was closing felt like drowning their sorrows in their beer and the whole situation did not sit well.
鈥淪ad day for Chemainus,鈥� said customer Peter Collum. 鈥淎nother dream crushed by an absentee landlord.鈥�
Riot went out amid as much fanfare as could be mustered Wednesday. The Grinning Barretts, who frequented the premises many times to play their unique Celtic music, were there with their bagpipes as a final salute.
Riot鈥檚 fate is as much a product of the times as anything else. Tomlin pointed out 1-2 out of five Canadian breweries are facing serious closure decisions within the next year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 saturation,鈥� said Tomlin of the marketplace. 鈥淐OVID kind of helped the saturation.鈥�
At the same time, prices have hit peoples鈥� pocketbooks hard.
鈥淓verything has risen,鈥� said Tomlin. 鈥淐raft beer is a luxury item. People can鈥檛 afford groceries.鈥�
It was naturally mixed emotions for the co-owners as the final closure hours approached.
鈥淧art of it is a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders,鈥� reasoned Tomlin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been such a struggle since COVID. We were actually trying to sell. They could not make a deal with the landlord.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of breweries for sale,鈥� she added. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really raise your prices any more.鈥�
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 watching their dollars,鈥� Rosenke concurred. 鈥淭he front-of-house lounge here is pretty much the same. But the wholesale sales dropped significantly.鈥�
People are having to made hard choices with their spending habits.
Rosenke and Tomlin tried to sort out their situation in the big picture before reaching their hard decision.
鈥淲e talked about it and with the potential for a large rent hike in 18 months, do we want to (continue)?鈥� Rosenke pondered.
They decided to move on.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still going to be a hard couple of years before things get back to normal,鈥� Rosenke conceded. 鈥淢aybe in a sense the landlord made us play our cards. Obviously, we wanted to keep going.鈥�
Riot鈥檚 products consistently won major awards among its peers over the years, including a bronze for its Working Class Hero dark mild at the Canada Beer Cup in Niagara Falls, Ont. and a bronze for Lipslide Lager at the Canadian Brewing Awards in Halifax in 2023.
But with all those accolades, 鈥渋t didn鈥檛 pay the bills,鈥� Rosenke reasoned.
He said Riot鈥檚 main focus has always been on the community and that鈥檚 the greatest take-away for him.
鈥淚 think we excelled in that part. We鈥檙e going to miss the friends who became family over the years. Hopefully, we鈥檒l continue to see them.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be interesting. The sad part is the community. Honestly, that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�
The importance of community should be a message that resonates for people from Riot Brewing Co.鈥檚 plight, Rosenke added.
鈥淢ake sure people support your local businesses. Take it for granted and they鈥檙e gone. You don鈥檛 want to do that.鈥�
Tomlin and Rosenke aren鈥檛 sure what鈥檚 going to come next. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure that hand will play out pretty quick,鈥� Rosenke said.
