E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Device Brewing Co. closes its three taprooms, including original brewery in southeast Sacramento

Device Brewing Co. will close its three taprooms after Sunday, April 27, including its original brewery and taproom in southeast Sacramento, The Sacramento Bee reported.

The shuttering of its three locations follows a lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court earlier this month alleging that Device has not paid rent or maintenance costs for its 8166 14th Ave. location for several months. The landlord claims that Device owes more than $23,000 in rental obligations, the lawsuit shows.

Device employs at least 20 people across its three locations, according to the California Employment Development Department. Workers were told about the closure in a message from the owner’s wife Thursday, according to a Device employee.

Each location will stay open for regular operating hours through Sunday evening. The Pocket location at 7485 Rush River Drive, Suite 650, had its kitchen closed Saturday morning due to a lack of employees but the location’s manager said the taproom should remain open the rest of the weekend.

Brewery owner Ken Anthony has not returned The Sacramento Bee’s requests for comment about the closure.

Luke Malone, who has worked at the Ice Blocks location at 1610 R St., Suite 145, since October 2024, said that he is sad to see Device close not only because it means losing his job, but because he loved the beer and the people he worked with. He said he and other employees got the news from ownership on April 24.

“I’ve never worked with a better crew,” said Malone, the lone employee working at the midtown taproom when it opened at noon. He did note that operations had gone downhill since the owners moved out of the state.

Malone’s been a fan of Device since he served their beer as a bartender at LowBrau several years ago. He says he will miss the brewery’s “Ofrenda” Mexican lager.

Cameron and Jessica Bryant visited the taproom Saturday after seeing rumors online that it was shutting down after the weekend. Both are sad to see Device go, with Jessica noting that the beer had the most “character” of any of Sacramento’s microbreweries.

The married couple discovered the brewery several years ago when barhopping for a friend’s birthday. They returned often for the beer and the “good vibes.”

“It’s crazy to hear that they’re closing — they were always packed,” Cameron Bryant said.

Anthony founded Device in 2013 after two years of experimenting with homebrewing. He opened the original taproom, just off Power Inn Road and south of Granite Regional Park, in late 2013.

By 2018, the brewery was selling its beer in more than 100 grocery stores before opening its Ice Blocks location in midtown later that year and its Pocket location in 2020.

News in December broke that Device would likely be closing its Ice Blocks location after the retail space was listed for lease by Turton Commercial Real Estate, the Sacramento Business Journal reported. The brewery had operated at the Ice Blocks since the development’s inception, expanding into an adjacent space in 2022. A Turton brochure from March for the Ice Blocks development lists the Suite 145 space as “Former Device Brewing.”

The Device website and its social media pages had not made an official announcements of the closure as of Saturday afternoon.

Anthony, an engineer by trade, moved to Texas with his wife, Melissa, last year, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Device now holds more than 2,500 retail accounts and distributes its beer from Bakersfield to Southern Oregon, according to its website. It was not clear if that distribution would continue.


28 April, 2025