Black Flag Brewing Co. faces uncertain future in Columbia

After 10 years in business, Columbia’s Black Flag Brewing Co. may soon shut its doors — if no one steps up to buy it.

Founder Brian Gaylor wrote on social media Thursday that it was time to “discuss the worst kept secret in Columbia.”

Gaylor wrote that after the birth of his first child this year, he realized he was “unable to give the brewery the attention it needs” as he approached the end of Black Flag’s 10-year lease on its space at 9315 Snowden River Parkway. So he made the decision to sell to a contract brewing brand based in Maryland.

However, that deal appears to be in jeopardy as the prospective buyers face hurdles getting the money together, and “we are just watching the clock tick down at this point,” Gaylor wrote in a text message.

“It is very possible that this sale does not go through,” Gaylor wrote on Facebook and Instagram. “It is very possible that 11/30 is our last day in business.”

The brewery “has been a true neighborhood staple in Columbia,” Kelly Dudeck, executive director of the Brewers Association of Maryland, wrote in a text message.

“They have consistently produced excellent beer and created a space, identity, and community that are are uniquely their own. This is not something that can simply be replaced. I sincerely hope they are able to find someone to carry the brewery forward.”

The potential closure on Nov. 30 comes at a rocky time for the local brewing industry, which is beset by rising costs and plummeting drinking rates. Last week, the parent company for Guinness announced that it would be closing the brand’s Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe.

“It’s really, really hard in the industry right now,” said Caroline Sisson, director of marketing and hospitality for Heavy Seas and president of the Brewers Association of Maryland, commenting on the Guinness departure. Every brewer she knows is “in survival mode.”

For his part, Gaylor is hopeful things could still work out for Black Flag Brewing Co., thanks in part to his own social media posts. A few potential investors have reached out to him since he shared the news online, and he’s been directing them toward the buyer, whom he declined to name.

“There is a chance everything is fine but I don’t want to be wrong and wait and give people 2 days to find new jobs, use gift cards, visit one last time etc,” Gaylor wrote in a text message Friday.

He’s open to other offers, too, and says he’s keeping the price reasonable to make sure Black Flag can stay in business and to ensure the livelihood of his current workers. The operation has a “profitable sales pipeline” and capacity to brew more.

Though he wouldn’t provide the exact sales figure, he said he’ll sell Black Flag for “less than the price of a lot of new homes in Columbia.”