(UPDATE: Dec. 8 @ 12:15 pm) - The owner of the soon-to-close Bad Tattoo Brewing in Penticton has revealed the reason behind his decision to close the popular brewery's doors.
"The decision to close Bad Tattoo was to be able to spend more time with family," Lee Agur told NowMedia via email.
"I am handing it off to some amazing friends that I know will be a positive impact on the community."
Agur added that the Kelowna location has a potential sale lined up with the hope that it can continue to operate as as a beer and pizza spot.
He also confirmed that production of Bad Tattoo beer has stopped for good, so stock up while you can.
The final day for Bad Tattoo in Penticton will be Dec. 18.
(Original story: Dec. 8 @ 7 am) - A brewery that helped turn Penticton into a craft beer hotspot is shutting its doors.
Bad Tattoo Brewing announced Wednesday night that it will be closing its Penticton location and “moving on to new adventures” as of Dec. 18.
“We want to thank our loyal regulars and the community for the support for the last nine years,” read a post from the brewery to social media.
“We have developed amazing friendships, families, customers and lifelong memories. We are ready to move on and embrace our next chapter.”
What that next chapter is not known right now, but the next chapter for the building that Bad Tattoo has occupied for nearly a decade will still involve craft beer.
Yellow Dog Brewing will be taking over the facility and opening a second location after eight successful years in Port Moody that have seen the brewery become one of the most beloved in British Columbia.
They are no strangers to Penticton either. Neighbourhood Brewing, which is right next door to Bad Tattoo, is a product of Yellow Dog.
The new tenants shared the news to social media as well, explaining that they have become great friends with the owners and team at Bad Tattoo over the years.
“They opened the same time as Yellow Dog did in Port Moody, and they helped us grow our sibling brand Neighbourhood,” the post explained.
“When they recently decided it was time for them to move onto other adventures, we were humbled that they thought of Yellow Dog as the perfect fit to add to this great craft beer community of Penticton.”
What the takeover process looks like is not quite clear as of yet, but Yellow Dog said they are committed to the communities it calls home and promised to share more as they can.
It’s also not quite clear what this move means for the future of Bad Tattoo beers in general and the brewery’s relatively new Kelowna location.
The popular Kelowna spot for Bad Tattoo and Counterflow beers, along with delicious pizza, opened its doors in July 2021 and has since become a staple in the city’s brewery district.
Bad Tattoo does not brew any beer in Kelowna and the new location opened with a food primary licence, but owners applied for brewery status this past summer.
One Bad Tattoo employee took to the comments section of the brewery’s Facebook announcement to say he believed the Kelowna location would remain open.
If that is the case, it could mean that it will become its own standalone bar that serves beers and more from a variety of different places.
It also could mean that Bad Tattoo plans to continue the production of beer from a new facility to continue serving Kelowna and selling through liquor stores.
However, that all remains to be seen and there has been no official word on Bad Tattoo’s overall future at this point.
NowMedia reached out to both the Kelowna and Penticton location for further comment and was told that they would provide more information today.
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