Locust Cider Closing Four of Six Taprooms In Washington

We have made the incredibly difficult decision to permanently close four of our six taprooms. Locust Cider Woodinville, Locust Cider Market Place, and Locust Cider Spokane will close at the end of the year so our teams have time to transition and our community has a chance to stop in again and say goodbye. Locust Cider Post Alley will be permanently closed starting today.

Locust Cider Gig Harbor will remain open as a full service taproom and arcade, and we are hoping to establish a new managing partner in Fort Collins to evolve Locust Cider Fort Collins into a stand alone fully gluten-free celiac-safe restaurant.

The cost of operating taprooms has risen faster than we’ve been able to keep up with, even with amazing support from all of you. To protect the future of the brand, we need to focus fully on what’s working: getting our ciders to more people through restaurants, bars, and grocery stores. Cider production and distribution will continue without interruption, and we’re already developing exciting new flavors for 2026 and beyond.

This industry has been in constant transition since 2020. Costs have skyrocketed, and we simply couldn’t raise prices at the rate needed to keep pace. But we remain optimistic. Nothing replaces the magic of gathering with others over great food and drinks. We need places to meet, connect, and breathe, and the business of hospitality will thrive again.
We hope customers everywhere will have patience and understanding with the restaurant and bar owners who are still fighting to hold on. Many are carrying the weight quietly while waiting for stability to return.

We are incredibly proud of our taproom teams, both past and present, and deeply grateful to everyone who has visited, supported us, and shared a pint with us over the last 10 years. You helped grow a business built on human connection. We raised over $100,000 for the Hydrocephalus Association, shared our story, opened thousands of people’s eyes to what cider can be, and created connections we will never forget.

As for Locust Cider, our next chapter is about growth, innovation, and reaching more people where our ciders are already thriving.

Thank you for taking this journey with us.

zzubreebym

About Locust Cider:

FOUNDED IN 2015 IN WASHINGTON SPECIALIZING IN SMALL BATCH HARD CIDER MADE WITH REAL, SIMPLE INGREDIENTS CRAFTED INTO BOLD FLAVORS

Our goal is to make ciders that don’t just make you say “Yum, that’s good”. We want to make you say “Hell yeah, that’s amazing!” We are not beholden to tradition, but we respect it. We love nurturing unique apple varieties to deliver the best traditional dry ciders possible. But we also love getting crazy and using the common Washington eating apple as a vehicle to create flavor combinations that make you say “Hell Yeah!” We’ll try anything, as long as it’s with REAL ingredients, not flavorings or artificial sweeteners. Our taprooms are the perfect testing grounds for flavor combinations that nobody would dare try out in a can for the first time- like Smoked Blueberry, Dates and Brown Sugar, or Vanilla Bean ciders. We want to open the world of cider for you to explore and try to make ciders across the spectrum.

Check out our cideries & taprooms in Washington and Colorado and look for our cans throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, California, Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska. We also ship to almost every state!

As a teenager, our founder, Jason Spears, was attacked and barely survived. While waiting for an ambulance, he heard the incessant drone of the locusts in the background. This sound became a symbol of strength, perseverance, and calm and it has given him the motivation to make the most out of what life has given him.

When it came time to get into the cider business, Jason could not think of three better qualities needed to break into the quickly growing industry and the name came naturally.

WE’RE NOT JUST ABOUT THE CIDER
A portion of proceeds for all cans as well as the Swarm Club are donated to the Hydrocephalus Association, an important and personal cause to owners Jason and Rebecca Spears whose daughter lives with the incurable brain condition.