After over four years of pouring brews and serving up tasty eats, Five Roads Brewing is closing its Steveston taproom, citing the mounting challenges of running a B.C. food and beverage business.
Five Roads shared the news of its Richmond outpost's closure, which is effective today, Jan. 31, in a heartfelt note to its fans on social media.
"It’s a tough decision that we’ve had to make especially with the many friends we’ve made and great times we’ve shared over the past few years in Richmond," the operators shared in their post.
"The conditions facing B.C. restaurants and breweries have, along with the ups and downs of the seasons, created a situation where despite the best efforts of staff working to create exceptional products and experiences, is still unsustainable," they added.
Five Roads is based in Langley, where they first opened a brewery and tasting room before joining the Richmond community. The Five Roads taproom took over the former Porthole space at 130-12251 No. 1 Rd and opened its doors in fall 2021.
The 35-seat tasting room had seven craft beers on tap, five of them being core brews and two rotating.
One of them was their Permanent Resident IPA – so named because it’s the “resident beer that’s not going anywhere” – which has won gold in the American Style India Pale Ale category at Canadian Brewing Awards. Five Roads also had a food menu with ingredients that operators endeavoured to be as farm-to-table and local as possible, with popular options like lobster rolls and spot prawns in season.
Despite closing its physical space, Five Roads' operators say they will do their best to maintain a presence in Richmond. To that end, they hinted that plans are in motion for a new business to take over their taproom and for Five Roads beer to be available there. However, Five Roads said they will leave those details "for the new owner to share more on soon."
The Five Roads team goes on to thank their Richmond customers over the past few years. "Steveston and Richmond will always remain a part of Five Roads Brewing and we truly thank everyone for their support and friendship. Every single beer lover and beyond has made our tasting room feel like a space for family and friends, and we express our deepest gratitude for that."
Five Roads will continue to operate its brewery and tasting room from its home base in Langley, and they are "working on some new, exciting things to come in 2025."
With files from Alan Campbell
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