Aeronaut Allston will close in late June
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The Allston beer garden is open for its last season. Photo: Courtesy of Aeronaut Brewing Company
This season will be the last for Aeronaut Brewing Company's Allston beer garden.
Why it matters: Post-COVID economic headwinds have affected virtually every industry, including craft beer in Massachusetts.
Brewing the news: The Allston space will close after June 28, ending a decade of bringing together artists, Harvard students and pet lovers on Western Avenue.
- "After the challenges of the past few years, we've made the bittersweet decision for this summer to be our final season," the Somerville-based brewery wrote on Instagram.
Flashback: Aeronaut opened the Allston location in 2016, selling brews and hosting live music and art events for free.
- At their peak, they had 1,000 visitors on a good day, says Ronn Friedlander, a co-founder.
- The COVID pandemic dealt the beer garden a blow it couldn't recover from, between the 2020 closures and the loss of regulars who left and didn't return to Allston.
Looking back, Friedlander says those factors, as well as lower customer spending post-COVID and an increasing number of rain-outs kept the Allston space from bouncing back.
Yes, but: Aeronaut is going all out for its farewell season.
What they're saying: "We didn't want it to keep fizzling and die off in a sad way," Friedlander tells Axios.
- The goal for this summer became to "try to have more music, more programming and try to really get people to turn out every single day that we're open and try to end on a positive note."
Zoom in: Their events lineup is packed with performances by local acts, from the Caribbean rave to the Femmes to Latin Americana singer Mercedes Escobar.
- They're also hosting a Pride pre-party, a "Survivor"-themed party and a Carnival-themed sendoff with food trucks and art vendors on June 28, says Deepa Chungi, Aeronaut's programming director.
What's next: Aeronaut isn't ruling out a return to Allston in the future, whether it's an event… or even the resurrection of their beer garden.
- "Who knows? If it's wildly, wildly successful this season, maybe, maybe there's a conversation there," Friedlander says.
- But the company is "refocusing and then seeing what opportunities come up next."
Keep reading: Boston-area beer gardens