After 13 years, countless pints and the release of more than 150 unique styles of beer, Smartmouth Brewing has announced the impending closure of its original location in the Chelsea district of Norfolk by the end of this year.
Market dynamics led to the difficult decision, said Porter Hardy, Smartmouth president and co-founder.
“That location was originally built around a distribution sales model,” Hardy said. “As we’ve made the choice, over the last year or two, to pull further out of distribution, the space just doesn’t quite fit our business model anymore.”
Documented changes in consumer behavior and other nationwide macroeconomic factors have all played a role, he said.
Sales of craft beer fell 4% last year, according to the Brewers Association, the lobbying arm for small and independent brewers. And the New York Times reported that over the past 18 months, there have been more brewery closings than openings for the first time in 20 years.
“I think that, broadly, people are going out less often and, specifically, brewery patrons want a broader experience with food and wine options in addition to beer,” Hardy said.
While both Smartmouth locations offer customers variety, including hard seltzers, frozen slushies, canned cocktails and nonalcoholic drinks, about 75% of the Virginia Beach location is dedicated to the tasting room where customers socialize, he said. And so the Pilot House location near the Oceanfront will remain open as the company’s primary focus: “That location fits a different business model centered around entertainment, food, wine and our own beer.”
That’s in contrast to the Norfolk site, where roughly 75% of the space was dedicated to producing beer to sell to restaurants and grocery stores, he said. But about a year ago, the brewery pulled out of grocery stores and maintained its relationship with local restaurants.
“As goods got more expensive — ingredients and packaging supplies, aluminum and all those things — that certainly made life a little bit harder there,” Hardy said.
Smartmouth cans its beer for distribution, and aluminum prices rose this year after the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Porter Hardy, co-founder of Smartmouth Brewing, outside the company’s Norfolk location in 2017. (Staff file)
The business’s continued beer distribution to local restaurants after the Norfolk closure is still up in the air as the business contemplates contracting with another brewery to produce its beer, Hardy said.
In the shakeout of the changing craft beer landscape, other brewers have closed in Hampton Roads, including Norfolk-based O’Connor Brewing in July 2023 and Armed Forces Brewing Co. in March.
Back Bay Brewing, which maintains its Virginia Beach Farmhouse spot on Kempsville Road, closed its Beach House location in December after 10 years to pivot the space to a European-style pub known as The Crow and Anchor in a partnership.
While there are no plans to change Smartmouth’s Virginia Beach space at 313 32nd St., Hardy said the business intends to “spruce it up” and enhance the customer experience. Pilot House, which opened in the resort area in late 2017, has a small-batch brewing system and private event space.
Hardy said on Facebook that the Norfolk closure isn’t goodbye and that Smartmouth will keep doing what it’s always done — just in Virginia Beach: “We’re going to double down our efforts, we’re going to keep making great beer, bake awesome pizza and throw awesome events.”
There is no set date for the 1309 Raleigh Ave. closure, but Hardy anticipates it will be just before Christmas. He said the company is actively trying to find someone to take over the space.
“As someone who lives in the neighborhood, I would love for it to continue to be a brewery,” Hardy said.
Hardy described Smartmouth’s anniversary celebration in Norfolk this past weekend as bittersweet.
Several married couples who had met at Smartmouth came out to reminisce, said Chris Neikirk, Smartmouth’s community engagement and administration director.
“It’s the end of an era,” Neikirk said. “We have a lot of memories in that building.”
“We certainly have our regulars, and we’ll miss all the people who called it their local watering hole,” Hardy said.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
