Mendocino Brewing Co., the company behind Red Tail Ale and the Hopland brewpub that opened in 1983 as California’s first brewpub after Prohibition, is in federal bankruptcy court. It did not choose to be there. A Los Angeles law firm filed an involuntary Chapter 11 petition against the company on Oct. 12, and a judge was set to hear arguments on Thursday, Nov. 12, on whether the case should be thrown out, The Mendocino Voice reported.
When we checked on Thursday morning, no outcome had been reported. This story covers the filings as they stood before the hearing, and we will update it once a ruling is public.
Who filed the Mendocino Brewing bankruptcy case
The petitioning creditor is Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. The firm says Mendocino Brewing owes it money. According to The Mendocino Voice, an S&P Capital IQ summary of the case puts the claim at about $60,000. The case is No. 26-10782 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. Public docket summaries, including one on Bankruptcy Observer, list the involuntary petition as the first entry and show the case as open, with its most recent activity on Nov. 9.
An involuntary case reverses the usual order. A company in a voluntary Chapter 11 files for itself to reorganize. Here a creditor started the process, and the company it targets can fight it. A judge then decides whether the case goes forward. The docket still lists Mendocino Brewing at 1601 Airport Road in Ukiah. The Mendocino Voice notes that the brewery there closed in 2018.
Kingfisher America wants the case dismissed
The second player is Kingfisher America Inc., which the docket lists as another creditor. On Oct. 22, Kingfisher filed a motion to dismiss the case. The motion’s title says that if the case stays open, Kingfisher wants permission to go ahead with arbitration. The Mendocino Voice reported that the docket entries do not say what that arbitration concerns.
The two companies go back a long way. According to Mendocino Brewing’s 2015 annual report to the SEC, cited by The Mendocino Voice, Kingfisher America has licensed Mendocino since 2001 to brew and sell Kingfisher beer in the United States. The same report describes Kingfisher America as a Delaware corporation affiliated with UB Limited.
After Kingfisher’s motion, Lewis Brisbois filed a response on Nov. 5 and Kingfisher replied on Nov. 9. Mendocino Brewing had filed nothing in the case through Nov. 9, according to the paper’s review of the docket. The court calendar listed a remote hearing at 10:30 a.m. Pacific on Nov. 12.
From Hopland pioneer to empty buildings
The legal fight is over a company, Mendocino Brewing, that matters a lot to California beer history. The Hopland Brewery opened in 1983 and helped show that a brewery and a pub could share a roof again after Prohibition. Mendocino Brewing’s flagship, Red Tail Ale, shared shelf space with Blue Heron Pale Ale and Eye of the Hawk.
Those labels have not had a working home for some time. The larger production brewery on Airport Road in Ukiah closed in 2018. The Hopland Tap, which operated in the original Hopland building at 13351 S. Highway 101, closed in 2024, The Mendocino Voice reported. A photo taken there in November 2023 shows Red Tail, Blue Heron and Eye of the Hawk bottles still on the back-bar shelf.
Legacy brands across the industry are running into money and ownership trouble. We have covered the Lone Pine founders’ lawsuit over their 2024 sale and the closing of Oak Creek Brewery’s West Sedona location. In Fort Bragg, North Coast Brewing named Daniel Lee its new CEO.
What comes next
The judge could dismiss the case, as Kingfisher America asked. The judge could also keep it open, and then Kingfisher wants to move its dispute into arbitration. A ruling may also come later instead of from the bench. Until a decision appears on the docket or is reported, the future of Mendocino Brewing and its Red Tail trademark is unclear.
We have not seen a public statement from Mendocino Brewing about the petition, and the company had not responded in court as of the last docket activity reported. We will follow the docket and update this report when the court acts.
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