🔒West Hartford brewery to close

Citing the struggling craft beer industry and “unexpected litigation,” WeHa Brewing & Roasting Co. in West Hartford has announced plans to close. “We’re saddened to announce that WeHa will be closing its doors at the end of this month,” the owners said in an announcement posted to Facebook on Thursday. “If you have been living under a rock, the craft beer industry has struggled mightily since 2020,” the post continues. “We have faced increasing costs (property taxes in West Hartford have skyrocketed since we opened), unexpected litigation and stagnant sales, all of which in one way or another have contributed to the decision to close our doors.” The craft brewery and cafe is located at 141 Shield St. in West Hartford. The “unexpected litigation” was a lawsuit filed against the brewery and cafe by The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in June 2025. The lawsuit was one of 15 separate copyright infringement actions ASCAP filed against establishments nationwide that it accuses of allowing “unauthorized public performances of its members’ copyrighted musical works,” according to a news release. WeHa Brewing is the only establishment in Connecticut facing legal action. ASCAP said it is also acting against 14 other facilities in 11 states, including three in North Carolina, two each in California and Florida, and one each in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Washington and Wisconsin. WeHa Brewing and Roasting Co. was founded by Cody McCormack. The small-batch coffee roaster and craft brewery has been open since October 2021, following an equity crowdfunding effort that surpassed its initial goal of $75,000, raising a total of $88,000, according to a document filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The money was raised by offering investors revenue sharing notes with a maximum possible return on investment of 50%. WeHa Brewing joins several other breweries that have closed this year, which according to ct.craftbeerlocal.com includes 5 Churches in New Britain, Milford Point Brewing, Epicure in Norwalk, The Crossings Brew Pub in Putnam and the Common Room in Middletown. Its Facebook post adds that WeHa Brewing “is grateful for your support over the last five years,” and thanks its customers, “our partners who believed in us, and our employees who always got it done despite less than ideal conditions.” The post concludes by inviting customers to “join us for one last pint over the next two weekends.” It states that the facility will be open Thursday through Sunday for the next two weeks, “or until we run out of beer.”