There will be no more Clydesdales a’clopping in Fairfield, as the Budweiser plant that opened there in 1976 will fully close down in January, because parent company Anheuser-Busch is pulling a national downsizing on production.The economic meltdown in the craft beer sector seems to apply to more t han just craft beer. Even those good old union-made traditional American beers are seeing slumping sales too. And that point hit close to home in the Bay Area this week, as KRON4 reported on Thursday that US beer manufacturer Anheuser-Busch announced it is permanently closing its Fairfield Budweiser plant, among a handful of US brewing facilities that they will also be shuttering.    That Fairfield Budweiser brewery opened way back in 1976, and will close permanently in January 2026. And there will be a permanent reminder of the loss for Fairfield, as the street on which the facility sits is named Busch Drive.“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,” Anheuser-Busch said in a statement, according to KRON4. “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.”Affected employees will be offered full-time employment elsewhere at other facilities, along with a relocation package. Those who decline that deal will be offered severance, according to the company.But it’s still a huge blow to the Solano County City of Fairfield, whose leaders say they were blindsided by Thursday’s news. “The impacts for us will be loss of local employment and impact to our water utility operations and revenue,” Fairfield City Manager David Gassaway said in his own statement. “I requested that they put me in touch with their real estate team so that we can promptly get to work on trying to find a potential reuse for the site. To be clear, I don’t think that will be an easy task given the large and highly specialized nature of the facility. I hope I’m wrong though.”Fairfield’s mayor Catherine Moy was more blunt.“Fairfield and other Solano cities have lost major businesses because California is a hostile business environment,” she said, according to KRON4. “A one-party super majority is like a dictator. Benicia is losing a refinery, we lost Copart, a huge company, and now Budweiser. If we don’t change course, our beautiful state will sink further.”But Anheuser-Busch is closing a total of three plants nationwide, so this does not sound like a Califrnia-specific issue. The company's sales have been declining for multiple years in a row.  Anheuser-Busch estimates that 475 jobs nationwide will be affected by the three closures, though it’s unclear how many of those are specifically Fairfield Budweiser plant jobs. Related: 21st Amendment Shutting Down Permanently, Both SF Taproom and East Bay Brewery Will Close [SFist]Image: O M G via Yelp ...read more read less