Iconic California booze brand closing taprooms in doomed location

JuneShine’s hometown happy hour is officially last call.

The San Diego-born hard kombucha brand is closing its final company-owned tasting rooms just months after pulling the plug on local brewing, capping a fizzy retreat that leaves the once high-flying beverage darling without a single company-run taproom in the US.

The company announced this week that its Scripps Ranch and Santa Monica taprooms will pour their last drinks on August 28, marking the final chapter in what has become a dramatic retreat from the brick-and-mortar empire JuneShine spent years building.

“There’s no easy way to say this: our beloved Santa Monica and Scripps Ranch tasting rooms are closing,” the company wrote in an Instagram post dated August 3.

“This was certainly not a decision that came easy, but the right one for what’s next.”

Customers are being invited back for one final round during what JuneShine, dubbed “The Last Splash.”

The closures cap a stunning reversal for a company that, not long ago, looked unstoppable.

JuneShine was founded in 2018 by University of San Diego classmates Greg Serrao and Forrest Dein. 

It bubbled onto the scene as California’s first organic hard kombucha brewery, opening a tasting room in North Park, San Diego before expanding at breakneck speed.

The company quickly graduated from neighborhood favorite to beverage heavyweight, snapping up the former Ballast Point headquarters in Scripps Ranch and transforming the 30,000-square-foot space into a flagship brewery and taproom while hauling in $24 million to fuel its nationwide ambitions.

Executives dreamed big, talking up production of more than 1 million cases a year, a coast-to-coast canned cocktail business and new taprooms far beyond California — including a flashy Brooklyn outpost complete with its own brewing equipment.

But the buzz didn’t last. The Brooklyn location quietly closed in 2024 after being in operation for only about two years.

Earlier this year, JuneShine confirmed it would cease brewing altogether in San Diego, outsource production to third-party manufacturers, eliminate local production jobs, and put its former Ballast Point brewery on the market as it pivoted toward a leaner, brand-focused business model.

Now, the company’s final tasting rooms are following suit.

Taken together, JuneShine has shuttered its original North Park taproom, scrapped plans for a larger replacement, closed its Brooklyn location in Williamsburg, halted brewing in San Diego, listed its flagship brewery for sale and is now preparing to lock the doors on its last two company-owned locations.

What’s left is the brand itself.

“JuneShine isn’t going anywhere,” the company insists. “You’ll still find us on shelves, at your favorite watering holes, and out in the real world.”

Beginning Aug. 29, however, fans looking for one last pint at a JuneShine taproom will have to settle for cracking open a can instead.

JuneShine’s farewell comes as the state’s food-and-drink scene keeps getting squeezed.

As The California Post previously reported, San Diego’s beloved Point Loma Denny’s served up its final Grand Slam in June after nearly six decades, leaving locals mourning the loss of a neighborhood staple.

Farther north, Los Angeles has also been hit by a summer wave of restaurant casualties.

 As The Post also reported, at least eight notable eateries have closed or temporarily shuttered this year since May, including Beverly Hills institution Crustacean, Wolfgang Puck’s Merois, Connie & Ted’s, Nerano, Drake’s Hollywood, Cinque Terre West, VooDoo Doughnut’s Venice Beach shop and the popular Dialog Cafe.

For JuneShine, the taps may be turning off, but unfortunately, it’s hardly the only Cali favorite calling last call.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters