‘We have to be near perfect’: WA hard cider producer closes 4 taprooms amid rising costs
Jan 7, 2026, 10:48 AM | Updated: 3:01 pm
A man enjoys a pint of cider at a festival. (Photo: Cate Gillon, Getty Images)
(Photo: Cate Gillon, Getty Images)
A Gig Harbor hard cider producer, Locust Cider, has closed all but one of its retail taprooms in Washington and will now focus on grocery and retail distribution.
Between 2019 and 2020, Locust Cider opened several taprooms across Washington, including Seattle, Woodinville, and Spokane. At the company’s peak, Locust Cider had 16 taprooms across Washington, Texas, and Colorado.
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Rising business costs lead to WA taproom closures
Founder and CEO Jason Spears cited steep operating costs in the hospitality industry as a contributing factor in closing a majority of its taprooms.
“I still believe strongly in the hospitality industry, and I believe it will thrive again,” Spears told The Puget Sound Business Journal. “But in the current environment, with the cost of business growing so much, especially in Washington, we have to be near perfect to make it work.”
In December, Locust Cider announced that it would shutter four of its last six locations, leaving one Gig Harbor taproom and its Fort Collins location, which will be turned into a “fully gluten-free celiac-safe restaurant.”
Brothers Jason and Patrick Spears founded Locust Cider in 2015 and eventually left Woodinville to relocate to Gig Harbor, occupying the former space of Heritage Distilling Co.
Locust Cider produced approximately 300,000 gallons of cider in 2025, though production is expected to decrease in the new year due to the company’s taproom closures.
WA beverage producers faced closures throughout 2025
Heritage Distilling announced it would close all five of its retail tasting rooms in Washington and Oregon by the end of the year. The company cited rising state taxes, regulatory challenges, and changing consumer preferences as factors making tasting room operations unsustainable.
The decade-old Capitol Hill brewing company, Outer Planet Brewing, narrowly avoided closure in late 2025 after spending six months searching for a new owner.”
“It’s hardly viable to run a craft brewery when the costs are what they are on the Hill,” Outer Planet co-owner Gabriel Villenave told The Capitol Hill Seattle Blog earlier in September. “Smaller breweries closing, consolidation of larger breweries taking over.”
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