Milwaukee's City Lights Brewing in the Menomonee Valley is the latest local craft brewery to announce it is closing.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Dec. 31, the brewery, located since January 2017 in a former coal gasification plant at 2200 W. Mount Vernon Ave., announced that Saturday, Jan. 4 will be its last day of business.
Here is the post in its entirety:
"A Heartfelt Thank You from City Lights Brewing Company
"It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we announce the closing of City Lights Brewing Company. After years of brewing incredible beers, serving delicious food, celebrating, and creating memories together, the time has come to close our doors for the last time this Saturday, 1/4. This decision was gut-wrenchingly difficult and comes after numerous challenges have made it unsustainable to continue.
"We want to express our deepest gratitude to our loyal patrons, our incredible staff, our valued suppliers and vendor partners, our cherished and supportive community, and all of you who have been part of our journey. Your love for great beer, your smiles, and your unwavering support have made our brewery more than just a place – it has been a gathering spot, a hub of connection, and a home. From the first pour to the final round, we’ve cherished every moment spent with you, whether it was during quiet afternoons or lively events, anniversaries, or simply sharing stories over a pint.
"We are especially thankful for the dedicated team who worked tirelessly behind the scenes – without your passion, creativity, and camaraderie, none of this would have been possible.
"As we turn the page on this chapter, we hold onto the incredible memories we’ve made together. The friendships, the laughter, the moments of joy—they’ll forever be etched in our hearts.
"Though City Lights is closing its doors, we are incredibly grateful for every person who made our brewery a special part of their lives. Our story doesn’t end here, and we hope to carry forward the spirit of what we’ve created in new ways in the future.
"We urge you to share the patronage, love and support that we so cherished at City Lights with the many fine local breweries that that continue to brew delicious beer and serve up memorable times that help make Milwaukee such a special and vibrant city.
"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being a part of City Lights Brewing Company. We hope to see you Friday or Saturday. Cheers.
"With gratitude and warmth,
The City Lights Team"
It's not entirely clear what was meant by the phrase, "Our story doesn’t end here, and we hope to carry forward the spirit of what we’ve created in new ways in the future," but we'll see.
That the brewery was facing issues – not unique in craft beer right now nationally – was no secret in the local craft beer community and earlier this year it paused production in May, ostensibly to install new equipment.
There have been a lot of changes to the craft beer scene here lately, including the closings of MobCraft and Enlightened and the sale of Grafton's Sahale Ale Works to Gathering Place Brewing.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
