‘End of an Era’ for Dogfish Head’s Rehoboth Beach Brewpub

Monday marked “the end of an era” for Dogfish Head Brewing as the company demolished its original Rehoboth Beach brewpub Monday morning.

The building holds two decades of memories for Dogfish and its fans. The brewery posted live video of the demo on Facebook. (Grab the Kleenex. You might get a little teared up watching it.)

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A crowd that included long-time brewery employees gathered to watch the demolition. Dozens of people — many of them out-of-towners who make the annual voyage to the beach brewpub — left messages on Facebook saying they were sad to see the building go.

“Thanks for the memories,” writes Barbara Kessler. “This is really tough to watch. I like the new building but the old building had so many memories,” Scott Hoffmaster says.

But Dogfish didn’t let all those memories slip away quietly. The Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Department held a series of silent auctions throughout October featuring some of the brewpub’s most memorable features, including beer signs, sections of the bar and even replicas of the barrel-shaped booths. All the money the silent auction made went to support the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Department.

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Dogfish founder and CEO Sam Calagione says, “It’s the end of one era for our original brewpub and the beginning of a new one.”

The new Rehoboth Beach brewpub opened in May 2017 with more places to sit, a bigger stage for live music and a new food menu.

Jess Baker

Jess Baker walked into a beer fest in 2010 and realized beer had come a long way from what her dad had been drinking since the 70s. She served as editor-in-chief of CraftBeer.com from spring 2016 to spring 2020, bringing you stories about the people who are the heartbeat behind U.S. craft brewing. She's a runner, a die-hard Springsteen fan, a mom who is always scouting family-friendly breweries, and always in search of a darn good porter.

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