Community Beer Works, Thin Man Brewery and Smoldered Society, collectively known as Chandler Street Breweries, have ceased operations, effective immediately. All three breweries operated under one taproom at 166 Chandler Street, which has closed its doors.
In a statement, the breweries say the business has failed to become financially sustainable, because, as they put it, “the world around us changed. Craft beer declined. Costs continued to rise. Consumer habits changed. Distribution became more difficult.”
“After years of working to find a sustainable future for Community Beer Works, Thin Man Brewery and Smoldered Society Beer Company, we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to wind down operations,” the statement read. “There’s no single thing that brought us here. For several years, the business has operated at significant losses. We’ve continued to invest, change and rebuild because we believed there was a path forward.”
CBW bought Thin Man in 2024, the same year they launched their imprint brewing label, Smoldered Society. They combined forces to open Chandler Street Breweries earlier this year at the former home of Thin Man in Black Rock.
“Chandler Street didn’t create the challenges we’re facing. It was an attempt to solve them,” the statement continues. “Eventually, we had to acknowledge that despite everything we’ve tried, the business has not become financially sustainable. That is the truth of why we’re closing.”
I seem to report on beer-related closings at an alarming clip these days, a part of this that I truly hate, and this one stings. It cuts deep. Say what you will about present day CBW and Thin Man, and yes, I’m painfully aware that the breweries ended up as a shell of themselves over the years and they lost pieces of themselves along the way with each move – CBW going from Lafayette Street to 7th Street to Chandler and Thin Man going from Elmwood Avenue to Chandler and eventually back to Chandler again. But CBW will always hold a special place in my heart. Those days down on Lafayette behind that green door felt truly special. We were part of something. The Buffalo Beer League was forged at that bar. I made lifelong friends in that garage and drank some of the best locally crafted beers I’ve ever had (Mr. Superfantastisch Berliner Weisse and Rutherford Brett Haze are two of the best beers I’ve ever had). At one point, CBW was my favorite brewery in the world. I will always cherish those days and the memories I made over countless pints there. It’s really hard to correctly put into words. And if you’re reading this saying, ‘it’s only beer’ – you clearly don’t understand and no explanation will do. You had to be there. From beer releases, anniversary parties and CBW Book Club to The Stouting (hi Drew), Friends of Frank Fundraisers and Snow Days and literally everything in-between, CBW on Lafayette was perhaps my favorite period in local beer. I don’t think that’s an overstatement. Again, you had to be there.
Like I said, this one cuts deep.
When CBW moved to 7th Street, the good times kept rolling, at least for a while. The COVID pandemic had something to say about that, but I made lasting memories in that space. If you want to read more, I reflected on that chapter on my beer life here. The space produced such memories as Thee Barleywine Classic, an actual barleywine festival in Buffalo, the Buffalo Beer League’s first-ever Buffalo Bills tailgate and watch party (we beat the Kansas City Chiefs that day), lunch beers, pinball and darts, One-Eyed Cat Brewing pop-ups, shotgunning beers with friends at KCBC for Lager Appreciation Month, countless beer releases, collecting weekly Bills gameday releases and many more I’m sure I’m forgetting. If I listed everything here, I’d never stop writing and I have to go to bed at some point.
Another golden period in Buffalo beer lore was Thin Man’s Elmwood location. I loved that place. I was there the day they opened and the day they closed, ironically enough with a Bliss Double IPA both times. They closed their doors in 2023 after 7 years and it was yet another crushing blow to the scene. But it was great while it lasted – Summer Solstice, Oktoberfest, Minkey Day, Zwanze Day, anniversary parties, beer releases, and numerous others – Thin Man on Elmwood was a vibe. But the COVID pandemic had other plans, just like it did for many others. But I will always cherish those times.
And all of this isn’t even to mention my love for Smoldered Society. Say what you will, but I was perhaps the brewing imprints biggest fan. They brewed fire beer, plain and simple. I should know – I drank nearly every beer they brewed. They made great lagers (long live Strike Anywhere and Do A Kickflip) and even better hazy IPAs (Illusion of Safety and Mass Delusion were bangers). The Smoldered Society anniversary party at Mr. Goodbar was a blast too (did someone say stubby bottles of Strike Anywhere?). Like I said, I was a fan.
“The beer didn’t fail. The people who made it didn’t fail. But great beer, awards and people who care deeply about what they do aren’t always enough to make the economics of a business work,” the statement concludes.
I wrote in my retrospective of CBW’s Lafayette tenure – “as 80’s hair metal merchants Cinderella famously sang, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.” Rest in power, Chandler Street Breweries. To everyone at Community Beer Works, Thin Man and Smoldered Society, past and present, thank you for the memories. I’ll see you down the road.
Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).
