Anheuser-Busch will shut down its Fairfield brewery in early 2026, city officials confirmed Thursday, marking the loss of one of the community’s largest employers and dealing what leaders say will be a major economic blow.
Mayor Catherine Moy announced the closure in a social media post, calling the news “horrible” and “devastating.” She said City Manager David Gassaway notified her Thursday morning after receiving confirmation from the company.
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In a message to the City Council, Gassaway wrote that Anheuser-Busch plans to close three facilities nationwide, including Fairfield’s, and that all employees will be offered jobs at other company locations across the country. A specific closure date has not yet been set, beyond “early 2026,” he said.
The Fairfield brewery first opened its doors in 1976. Anheuser-Busch (the original U.S. company) was sold to Belgian brewer InBev in 2008, forming Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest brewer, but AB InBev still operates the Anheuser-Busch brand, selling off some smaller brands while also acquiring new ones to grow its portfolio. The Fairfield site as of 2024 was brewing more than 20 of Anheuser-Busch’s brands.
Gassaway warned of significant local impacts, including the loss of jobs and reduced revenue for the city’s water utility. He added that the specialized nature of the brewery will make it challenging to find a new user for the site, though the city is already seeking to connect with the company’s real estate team to explore reuse options.
“To be clear, I don’t think that will be an easy task given the large and highly specialized nature of the facility,” he wrote to the mayor and council. “I hope I’m wrong though.”
Moy said the city is mobilizing immediately to support affected workers and search for potential buyers for the plant.
“It’s shocking,” she said of the announcement. “I remember when that plant first opened. It was a big deal and it has been a big part of Fairfield.”
The plant employs hundreds of people and Moy said the news coming just before Christmas shows a “heartlessness” she cannot stand.
She said she spoke with company officials early Thursday and they indicated it would close in the first part of February but had no real explanation of why the plant has been targeted for closure.
“There has been no reason for why and we didn’t know anything about this. It hit us from out of nowhere this morning,” she said.
A spokesperson did not give specifics for why the Fairfield site was closed but issued a formal statement saying, “Over the last five years we have taken steps to update and modernize our U.S. manufacturing operations, investing nearly $2 billion in our 100 facilities across the country; after conducting a thorough review, we have decided to sell our Newark, NJ facility to the Goodman Group and to close our facilities in Fairfield, CA and Merrimack, NH in early 2026; we will be shifting production from these three facilities to our other U.S. facilities and these changes will enable us to invest even more in our remaining operations and in our portfolio of growing, industry-leading brands.”
The statement said the company “will support the approximately 475 full-time employees currently working at these three facilities by offering all of them a full-time role elsewhere in our U.S. operations.”
Moy noted that the closure is the third large facility to announce its departure in Solano County. “Benicia is losing a refinery,” she said, referring to the announced closure of the Valero refinery. “We lost Copart, a huge company, and now Budweiser.”
And she put the blame squarely on state government.
“Fairfield and other Solano cities have lost major businesses because California is a hostile business environment,” she wrote on social media. “A one-party super majority is like a dictator … We have the most expensive gas, energy, grocery prices, and housing. We also have the highest unemployment, one of the lowest in literacy rates with our youth. And our Legislature keeps eating away at your rights to make policy at the city level. It’s so sad and maddening.”
She said now the city is turning its focus to the impacts locally.
“Now we must help our people and look closer at impacts to Fairfield,” Moy wrote in her post. She said on the phone that the city will work with local employment advisors to help impacted employees.
The Fairfield brewery has long been a major industrial presence in Solano County, and its closure shocked residents, many of whom pointed out that the company had invested more funding in the site as recently as 2024 – when it announced a $7 million investment in the Fairfield brewery for capital infrastructure projects that support ongoing improvements at the facility, including updates to the brewery’s roofing, equipment overhauls, new lighting, and other structural repairs.
“These investments in our Fairfield brewery strengthen capabilities across our entire business to ensure our northern California facility continues to brew the great-tasting, high-quality products that have satisfied drinkers for generations,” said Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch said at the time.
Wayne Senalik, who retired from Anheuser Busch after working at the Fairfield site for more than 34 years, including 11 as the plant manager said Thursday he is “saddened” by the announcement.
“I think it is a sad time for the community,” he said. “It was a good company but once they sold, there were a lot of changes and I know the capacity of the brewing was way down from when we were there.”