Exclusive | Old-school LA brewery known for traditional cask ales closing after 12 years

On a Sunday afternoon in the San Fernando Valley, shattered patrons and employees came together for a going away party of a beloved institution.

MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., a cult-favorite Van Nuys brewery — known for its old-school British cask ales and house made pizzas, and neighborhood vibe — announced it’s shutting down on September 27, marking the latest casualty on Los Angeles’ brutal small-business landscape.

Founded in 2014 by husband and wife duo Alastair and Jennifer Boase, MacLeod’s was one of the valley’s first craft breweries.

“We were not afraid to pick a city that was a little bit shabby. We weren’t snobbish about where we should be,” said Co-founder Alastair Boase told the California Post. “We thought, ‘Hey, Van Nuys needs something like this.’”

The brewery distinguished itself by going all in on “real ale” — with imported English grains, naturally carbonated, cask-conditioned beer.

For more than a decade, MacLeod’s brought a steady stream of young, hip Angelenos to a gritty stretch of Calvert St. known best for a string of auto body shops. 

“It’s sad that we’re leaving and the fact that Budweiser is still here doing fine,” said Boase, referencing Anheuser-Busch’s Van Nuys brewery. 

The business did their best to make people feel at home — in any way they could.

“We provided a wonderful little community center of sorts. We did darts. We did cornhole. We did giant Jenga. We did wonderful board game nights,” Boase recounted.

“We hosted birthday parties, going away parties, retirement parties, every kind of celebration you can imagine. And then we opened a pizza kitchen four years in, and then became a world-class pizzeria,” he said.

MacLeod’s is one of numerous independent breweries closing its doors, reportedly due declining demand and rising costs. Those pressures are being felt throughout Southern California’s craft beer industry — and all across the country.

481 craft breweries closed across the U.S. in 2025 — while just 300 new ones opened, according to the Brewer’s Association. 

The concept boomed in the 2010s. But now, the market is correcting as consumer tastes are changing.

People are drinking less beer and alcohol in general, and restaurants and breweries across California grapple with rising labor, rent, utility, insurance and supply costs.

“We changed as much as we could, but there was a lot of energy, a lot of time, a lot of money to keep it going,” Boase said. “I think it was just the odds were against us.

The brewery’s demise comes amid a devastating wave of restaurant and bar closures battering the City of Angels. Crushed under the weight of soaring commercial rents, bills, and inflation, hospitality operators across the region seem to be dropping like flies.

MacLeod’s financial struggles were hardly a secret. As far back as 2014, the owners acknowledged the difficult economics of opening a small brewery. The business has endured previous closure scares in the past, making the recent announcement less of a surprise to longtime fans.

Last Sunday, Boase and his crew hosted a bittersweet gathering of its most loyal customers and friends — a final celebration of a business that fostered community in the area.

Grant Paulis had been a regular at MacLeod’s since day one. He drank there every single day in its first two months of opening. 

“There was nothing anywhere close by that was even sort of resembling a cool local brewery,” Paulis said. “And we were here the first day, and there were lines around the block. It was like Beatlemania in here.”

Paulis is one of many MacLeod super fans, many of whom would voluntarily wash dishes just to help out. 

“Between my brother and I, we own every T-shirt and every can of beer, every glass, every little knick-knack, every tchotchke, every shirt, every weird sticker, everything McLeod has ever made, because we are such super fans,” he said. 

Paulis has been bringing his four-year-old son to MacLeod’s since he could walk. “I kind of held a special goal in my life to one day drink my first beer with my son here, but it’s not going to happen,” he said. 

Rhiannon Godinez lived in Van Nuys for five years and said she “literally would bring everybody here. It was just the brewery that I would recommend for celebrations, for birthdays, for ‘hey, let’s go grab a drink.’” 

Another regular, Carolina, found MacLeod’s on a walk one day. “I was like, we’re in the middle of all these tire shops. And there’s this light nestled within all of that.”

“And there actually were musicians right in the main area, all around in a circle, playing different music. And it was just so cozy and inviting that we ended up coming regularly,” she continued.

One regular told the California Post that MacLeod’s stood out for its down-to-earth environment.

“We don’t always want to go to Ventura Boulevard, Studio City,” said the longtime Van Nuys resident. “This feels more authentic or legitimate. Those other places feel a little bit pretentious in my opinion.” 

“When my daughter was on her soccer team, we came here and celebrated some wins. We celebrate birthdays for kids here, which is weird. You know adults are having beer and the kids are eating cake,” he continued.

The brewery first announced the closure in an emotional social media post, admitting that keeping the taps running is simply impossible in today’s economic climate.

“We had big dreams back in 2014, and we worked very hard to make them come true, as every mom and pop business does,” the post read. “But today we have to wake up to the reality that our family business is no longer viable.”

While they already shuttered the pizza kitchen, staff vowed to keep pouring until the bitter end — this coming Sunday.

“We have plenty of your favorite MacLeod beers on hand, let’s drain the tanks dry before we turn out the lights,” Boase wrote.

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