MacLeod Ale Brewing will close its Van Nuys taproom September 30, ending a 12-year run at 14741 Calvert Street.
The brewery confirmed the closing through its official Instagram account, reflecting on the ambitions that accompanied its 2014 opening and thanking the community that supported the business. The announcement arrived days after the longtime MacLeod property was placed on the market.
The listing covers 14741-14743 Calvert Street, where MacLeod opened its original taproom in 2014. Marcus & Millichap is marketing the 5,000-square-foot building as an owner-user opportunity at $385 per square foot, with vacant delivery at the close of escrow.
A flexible industrial building set up for food and beverage use
The single-story property sits on an M2-zoned lot a few blocks west of Van Nuys Boulevard. Although best known as a brewery and taproom, the building has features that could support a range of industrial or commercial users, subject to permits and zoning requirements.
Marketing materials describe ceiling clearances of approximately 12 to 14 feet, two roll-up doors and a layout that can be divided for more than one occupant. The building also has two walk-in refrigerators, a break room, a bar and sink area, and three restrooms, including two described as ADA accessible.
The listing notes recent HVAC repairs and assigns the property a parking ratio of 1.2 spaces per 1,000 square feet. Street parking has long been an important part of visiting MacLeod; the brewery's own visitor information tells customers that its Calvert Street location has street parking only.
MacLeod helped establish the Valley's modern brewery scene
MacLeod Ale Brewing was established in 2012, followed by two years of planning and construction before its Van Nuys taproom opened in June 2014.
At the time, the brewery stood out for serving British-style cask ale through hand pumps rather than relying only on the colder, highly carbonated draft beer familiar to most American taprooms. LA Weekly described MacLeod during its opening year as the first Southern California brewery focused exclusively on traditional cask-conditioned beer.
The business also arrived when the San Fernando Valley had relatively few taprooms producing their own beer. Its Calvert Street space grew into a neighborhood gathering place for beer, pizza, music, games and community events.
The operation eventually expanded into the adjacent half of the building. A 2014 profile described plans to grow from the original 2,500-square-foot brewery into a neighboring warehouse, bringing the operation to roughly the same 5,000-square-foot area now offered for sale. City planning records from 2016 likewise document a proposed expansion of the brewery and tasting room into the adjacent 2,500-square-foot space.
The closing follows years of financial uncertainty
MacLeod's history on Calvert Street has not been uninterrupted. The company announced in late 2022 that its Van Nuys and Highland Park locations would cease operations after selling through their remaining beer. The original Van Nuys taproom later continued operating, while the Highland Park location did not remain part of the business.
The brewery faced another publicly discussed financial scare in 2023, when supporters rallied around the Van Nuys location. In a reply posted to an r/SFV discussion that December, owner Jennifer Febre said the brewery was doing everything it could to remain open. She acknowledged that times had been difficult and said the kitchen's payroll and operating expenses were not sustainable, prompting a temporary return to food trucks.
Patrons saw signs of a changing business
Reddit discussions provide an anecdotal but consistent record of how customers perceived the brewery's recent trajectory. These comments are not financial statements and cannot establish why the business struggled, but they show that regular visitors noticed substantial changes before the real estate was listed.
In a May 2025 r/LABeer thread, patrons described MacLeod as shifting from a brewery-centered taproom toward a larger selection of guest beers. The original poster later said staff had confirmed that on-site brewing had stopped at that time. Other visitors reported fewer MacLeod beers and cask options, although accounts varied depending on when each person visited.
The decline was not entirely linear. A January 2026 r/LABeer discussion documented a partial comeback. Visitors reported that production was increasing again, one cask ale had returned and Van Ice, Luckypenny and Better Days were once more available under the MacLeod name.
That rebound appears to have been short-lived. In the August 31 r/SFV closing discussion, commenters again described difficult parking and access as reasons they visited less often. One longtime customer felt the pizza had changed after the kitchen closed and reopened, while others pointed to the brewery's repeated closure scares. Those comments reflect individual experiences rather than independently verified causes, but together they suggest that the challenges were visible to customers well before the property reached the market.
The timing connects two developments that initially appeared separately: the vacant-delivery language in the real-estate offering and MacLeod's announcement that the taproom will close. A sale may still take time or may not close, but the brewery's tenure at the property now has a confirmed end date.
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What the closing could mean for Calvert Street
The asking price values the building at $385 per square foot. For a buyer, the property's appeal lies in its small freestanding footprint, industrial zoning, existing utility capacity and food-and-beverage improvements. The two-address configuration and separate roll-up doors could also make it adaptable for a single operator or multiple occupants.
For the neighborhood, MacLeod's departure will remove a gathering place that brought beer, pizza, music, games and community events to an otherwise industrial stretch of Calvert Street. The brewery has confirmed the taproom's final day but has not announced a relocation or successor venue.
Until September 30, 14741-14743 Calvert Street remains both an active neighborhood destination and a newly offered industrial property. After that, a chapter that began with MacLeod's 2014 opening will come to an end.
Keep exploring Valley real estate
Sources
- LoopNet listing for 14741-14743 Calvert Street - asking price, building and lot size, property features, zoning, vacant-delivery language and August 27, 2026 listing date.
- MacLeod Ale Brewing on Instagram - official announcement confirming that September 30, 2026 will be the Van Nuys taproom's final day.
- MacLeod Ale Brewing - current address, operating hours and description of the Van Nuys taproom; accessed August 27, 2026.
- MacLeod Ale Brewing visitor FAQ - parking information and current visitor details.
- LA Weekly: "Van Nuys' MacLeod Ale Brewing Brings 'Real' Ales to the SFV" - June 2014 opening, cask-ale focus and early taproom description; published June 19, 2014.
- Neon Tommy: "MacLeod Ale Brewing More Than Beer in Van Nuys" - early brewery history, community role and planned expansion into the neighboring warehouse; published December 23, 2014.
- Los Angeles City Planning entitlement application record - proposed expansion of the existing 2,500-square-foot brewery and tasting room into an adjacent space in 2016.
- The Full Pint: "MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. to Abruptly Cease Operations" - the company's late-2022 announcement concerning its Van Nuys and Highland Park operations.
- r/SFV: "MacLeod close to closing for good" - 2023 discussion of the kitchen shutdown and operating uncertainty, including a reply attributed to owner Jennifer Febre about costs and efforts to remain open.
- r/LABeer: "Is MacLeod still brewing?" - customer observations from 2025 about fewer house beers, reduced cask offerings and a larger guest-tap selection; anecdotal and attributed accordingly.
- r/LABeer: "MacLeod's brewing again?" - January 2026 customer reports that limited production and cask service had resumed.
- r/SFV: "MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. Closing" - August 31, 2026 community discussion of the confirmed closing, parking, access, kitchen changes and prior closure announcements.
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