09/09/2024
ENDEX. It's time to pull chocks. Load up the iso-shelters. Pack your trash. Get on the 5-ton and head back to the barracks to clean the gear.
After a five year deployment working hard to bring you all some great tasting NA beer, it's time to call it. I've been working every angle I could find to continue to make this work, but I need to quit digging and start a new chapter before I get too old.
I'm very proud of the NA beer we made. It's not easy to make NA beer, and it's even harder to make great tasting NA beer. The medals we won at GABF and WBC in the last year certainly helped validate that we were on the right path, but the countless looks of amazement when people asked, "This is NA?!" were always the best confirmation that we made quality NA beer.
To make all of this work, you need high volume... massive volume... a truckload a month volume. And while we continued to grow, I couldn't figure out how to grow it fast enough before running out of time. No need for any pity parties here - it's just a hard business and sometimes it doesn't work the way you want.
Thank you to everyone that supported us along the way, including the countless breweries that brought us in to their place and made us feel like part of the community of brewers. All the small retailers that put us on the shelf as I made deliveries out of my truck and the restaurants and bars that were initially skeptical of anything beyond O'Douls...thanks for trusting us.
And a special thanks to all of you that bought Leader Brewing beers and loved them. I appreciate you all trying us out at the beer fests, ordering online, and putting us in your shopping cart. It always means a lot to hear folks tell me they love our beers while I'm out and about.
While we're saying goodbye for now, perhaps there will be an opportunity to resurrect Leader Brewing if the right conditions present themselves. So keep an eye on us in your social media feed and online. We'll continue to take orders until we run out of beer.
Remember to drink local - not just the big brands. And keep drinking NA, 'CAUSE YOU GOT S #!T TO DO.
Cheers, Max
