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After 17 years, Radio Boston tunes his last show today, and it’s a good day. Tune in at 11 a.m. for a look at the MBTA’s trail work efforts, historical stories from the State House and personal life advice.

But first, the news:

Beer in review: Today also marks the last day for another longtime pillar of the community: Cambridge Brewing Company. After 35 years, owner Phil Bannatyne is retiring and closing the Kendall Square Brewery, which was one of the area’s first craft breweries. This caps a year of consolidation for the local brewing industry. Over the past 12 months, Massachusetts has seen a series of closure announcements, from Everett’s Bone Up Brewery last winter to Redemption Rock in Worcester next week. At the same time, other big names merged or were acquired, like Jack’s Abby in Framingham gobbling up Wormtown and Night Shift.

• What is behind this trend? After a decade of “exponential growth,” it’s simply getting harder for individual breweries to compete, according to Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild. And market saturation coincided with the impacts of a pandemic, inflation and rising rents. “It used to be that you could open a brewery anywhere … and it would be an overnight success,” Stinchon told WBUR’s Dan Guzman. “That’s no longer the case. You can have great beer and an amazing space, without just attracting consumers to your tasting room to make your business viable.
• By the numbers: From 2016 to 2023, Massachusetts averaged more than 24 openings and nine closings per year, according to the Brewers Guild. But in 2024, the state has seen 17 openings and 15 closures. Meanwhile, on a national level, 2024 saw brewery closures exceed openings for the first time in two decades.
• What’s next: Stinchon says 10 to 12 breweries are expected to open in Massachusetts over the next two years, but most will be second or third locations of existing breweries. The National Brewers Association believes 2025 will be “another difficult year“, due to the uncertainty and potential prices on the horizon.
• A glimmer of hope: It’s not all bad news. Brockton Beer Company And Distraction Brewing recently reversed its decision to close. And this week again, Cambridge Brewing announcement Castle Island Brewing had purchased their intellectual property. That means Castle Island will continue to pour and distribute CBC beer — and even offer it on draft at its Norwood and South Boston locations.
• Fun Fact: You Wonder What Will Happen CBC’s iconic ‘Where’s Waldo-like’ mural? Bannatyne tells me he plans to take the mural home and then “cut out the faces of the employees and regulars and mount them and give them to these people.”