Surly Beer Hall To Close 'Indefinitely'

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Surly Brewing Company has made the decision to shut down its beer hall indefinitely amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Minneapolis-based beer maker says that beer halls and pandemics "don’t mix."

The beer hall will remain open until Nov. 2.

"The Beer Hall had to make the most significant changes to adapt to a crumbling restaurant industry and the demands of city, state and federal COVID-19 health and safety regulations," the brewery stated.

"As we complied fully with the safety measures, it became clear that beer halls are by definition gathering places and gathering places and pandemics don’t mix. Because of this, we have made the gut-wrenching decision to close the Beer Hall indefinitely on Nov. 2."

The beer hall's revenues are down 82 percent compared to this time last year.

Surly management admitted that the "timing of this announcement is not ideal." On Monday, Surly employees announced their intention to form a union.

"We respect their decision to turn to an outside organization for representation and will continue the dialogue. That does not change the fact that our plans to close the Beer Hall were put in place weeks ago with the announcement planned for this week," the company stated.

"As we close the doors of the Beer Hall, we’re still moving forward. We’ll adapt, change, pivot, and change again. Please support your local bars and restaurants as they face the tough times ahead."