JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nine months after announcing that he was looking to sell his beloved Intuition Ale Works brewery, owner and founder Ben Davis shared an updated post on Facebook, saying “the right buyer never came” and the eatery will be closing in April after more than 15 years in Jacksonville.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Davis pointed to unrealized downtown growth as one of the dominoes that led to Intuition’s closure.
Recommended Videos
Davis said he opened the Bay Street location in September 2016, believing in the potential of Downtown Jacksonville.
“I was confident that Intuition could play a role in helping shape what it might become,” Davis wrote, saying he didn’t regret the ambitious move. “But that ambition was rooted in the hope that transformative downtown development would follow.
“It never did,” Davis continued. “Renderings and potential do not pay the bills.”
Davis said long-term sustainability is not possible with Intuition’s current financial burdens.
Davis announced last April that he was exploring the possibility of selling Intuition.
“For nine months, I examined every realistic path forward, hoping the right buyer would emerge with the resources and conviction to carry the brand into its next chapter,” Davis wrote.
He said that buyer never materialized, and he has no choice now but to close permanently when the lease expires in April.
The final day will be April 24, which will be the brewery’s last Bier Hall show with Yonder Mountain String Band.
Davis said the craft beer industry has changed dramatically since COVID with higher costs, thinner margins and relentless competition.
“For small independent breweries, the room for error is smaller than it has ever been,” Davis wrote.
He said the taproom, kitchen and Bier Hall will remain fully operational through April 24 and any scheduled private events will still take place.
In 2021, Intuition was one of the local breweries in Northeast Florida to help with food insecurity. It’s Bier Hall was used for volunteers to package 10,500 meals.
In his post on Wednesday, Davis thanked his staff, their partner Champion Brands, all the restaurants and venues that sold their beer, and the community that “showed up, again and again.”
“You drank our beer, packed our shows, and shared your lives with us,” Davis wrote. “Your support mattered more than you will ever know.”
Davis encouraged the community to visit the taproom and Bier Hall over the next few months and support the bars, restaurants and stores that carry Intuition beer.
“When it’s gone, it’s gone,” he wrote. “And we’re proud of every drop we made.”