California malthouse and taproom with historic cred closing after 9-year run

They’re turning off the spigot.Trendy Bay Area beer bar The Rake and its adjacent malthouse Admiral Maltings will close this month after nine years in business, citing financial difficulties.Admiral Maltings stopped production on October 2 — while The Rake will officially close on October 18, making the business the latest casualty in California’s declining craft beer industry, which has faced significant headwinds in 2026.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story “We wish it weren’t so.We’ve never worked harder on anything,” The Rake wrote in a late September Instagram post.

“We’ve treasured the connections and community we’ve created with California farmers, the breweries and distilleries we’ve worked with, and everyone who helped us revive and innovate the craft of floor malting.”“Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t make and sell malt economically,” the post continued.“Although we have reached out to many professional colleagues and professional partners over the last couple of years in an effort to carry Admiral Maltings into the future, we no longer possess the resources to push forward.”Located on the former Alameda Naval Air Station, The Rake was known for its wide variety of taps using malt produced from Admiral Maltings, which became California’s first craft malting factory since prohibition when it opened in 2017.The closure follows a trend of craft beer business closings in recent years.

481 craft breweries closed across the U.S.in 2025, while just 300 new ones opened, according to a April 2026 report from the Brewer’s Association. Since 2024, the number of taprooms has decreased 2.7%, while the number of microbreweries decreased 4.4%.Beer market sales are down nationwide.

U.S.beer market sales fell 3% from $11...