COLUMBUS — A historic Columbus brewing name is closing its doors — again. Hoster Brewing Company announced Sept. 23 that its brewery and taproom at 653 N. James Road will shut down after Oct. 31 unless a buyer is found, ending the latest chapter of a 190-year-old brand. Owner Dan Meyers cited rising ingredient, material and energy costs, changing consumer drinking habits and a lease renewal with a rent increase as reasons the operation could no longer run sustainably.
Hoster’s story began in 1836, when German immigrant Louis Hoster opened a brewery on Front Street. By the turn of the 20th century, the company was producing some 300,000 barrels a year from its Brewery District complex, before shutting down in 1920 after Prohibition took effect. The name was revived in the 1990s as a German Village brewpub, which closed in 2001. Meyers bought the rights to the Hoster name in 2004 and brewed its Gold Top lager before taking over the old Actual Brewing location on James Road in 2021; the taproom opened in April 2024.
Meyers said the team had been honored stewards of the Hoster legacy and hopes it will live on. The company is looking for another brewery — preferably local — to take on the Hoster name and its beers, and it plans to sell its assets as it winds down. Hoster will keep distributing wholesale beer to bars and restaurants through the end of 2026, or until supplies run out, and the taproom keeps its normal Wednesday-through-Sunday hours until the closure.
The brewery goes out with a final round of events: a spooky scavenger hunt Oct. 28-31 and a Halloween-night finale on Oct. 31 with food trucks, scary movies and a costume contest — one last party before the lights go out on James Road.
