Oswego Brewing set to close on Saturday: ‘Everyone is disappointed and heartbroken that this is happening’

Oswego Brewing Company, which became a staple for many in the village, will close its doors for good on Saturday, brewery officials said.

Opened five years ago, the brewpub became known for its many craft brews including Hay’z for Horsez, a New England IPA, as well as the Oktoberfest and St. Patrick’s Day events it held, as well as for working with local groups including the Little White School Museum in Oswego.

Oswego resident and head brewer Chad Lindahl, 38, said news of the closing, which is posted on the company’s website, “was announced just recently.”

“I’ve been brewing professionally for three years and I’m not sure what is going to happen. I hope something works out here but I don’t really know,” he said.

Aaron Royster of Montgomery was overseeing the taproom a week before the scheduled closing. He has been with the brewery since before the brewpub opened.

“I initially started off as the taproom manager. I was hired about a month before the grand opening and finished setting up the brewery, hiring and training staff,” he said. “After about a year I was offered a partnership/ownership in the business so I’ve been operating as owner and general manager ever since.”

The grand opening for the brewery was May 18, 2018, and the next two years were met with “amazing success,” he said.

“For us, the first two years were amazing. We were on an excellent growth curve and we weren’t going to have any problems with expanding,” Royster said. “Then with getting shut down with COVID, unfortunately, everyone still has to be paid and we applied to government programs and we got them and fulfilled everything that we could. We did take out additional loans to keep us going and it was one of those things where it just wasn’t enough after we opened back up.”

Royster said that “in 2022 we had a good year but again it wasn’t pre-COVID levels.”

“It was almost there and then this year it’s just been down from that too,” he said.

Royster expressed no doubt about the quality of the beer at Oswego Brewing but blamed the slower business on there being too many other options for consumers to spend their money.

“I think there are a lot of activities and I don’t fault the public, there are a lot of things to do,” he said. “Once things returned to normal there’s concerts in the park, downtown events, fairs, a lot of places for people to spend their money.

“My personal opinion is that problems were tied with a growing tightening of the economy and people became more choosy where they were spending money. Instead of coming down here once a week it became once every two weeks or three weeks,” Royster added. “We’re not talking a lot of difference – maybe 15% less sales than last year. But with the additional loans we took on and trying to keep things going we were just overburdened.”

Over the five years, at least 200 beers were created with 25 core beers that stayed on for a while.

“Our New England IPA - Hay’z for Horsez - was number one from day one and has been a phenomenal success. I hope that beer continues,” Royster said. “I don’t know, I’m still holding out hope even though we are running out of time. We’ve talked to a lot of people who are very interested in helping us stay afloat and we are still fleshing out if any of them are real possibilities. The brewery would be under a different name, of course, but hopefully this business and building will survive.”

Royster praised the local community but admitted there are fears the closing of the brewery could have a domino effect on other businesses.

“The people of Oswego been amazing and there has been a huge outpouring seeing people I haven’t seen since the grand opening. Everyone is disappointed and heartbroken that this is happening and want to find somewhere to help,” he said. “Closing means one less reason to come downtown and hopefully someone makes use of this spot.”

Local patrons like Erica Radecki of Oswego and her husband Brad said they are big fans of Oswego Brewing.

“The brewery has been here five years and we’ve lived here four and have supported it,” Erica Radecki said. “We’re concerned about the impact on other businesses if this closes. I can’t go back to store-bought beer anymore – it’s too watered down and my husband likes to brew his own and I’m into all the flavors now.”

Brad Radecki said he also has enjoyed the local brewery saying “everything they have brewed here is always fresh and abundant and if they run out they are quick to get it back or in cans so we can bring it home.”

“We learned about the closing a couple of weeks ago when they posted it on their website,” he said. “I told my wife – on my God – we have to get in there. We were one of the people during COVID and the curbside pick-up that tried to keep our local businesses afloat. We were here every weekend picking up stuff.”

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.