Arvada Beer Company Closes

I only went there once, but it had a reputation for not so great beers. The tasting room was not so stellar-there are/were plenty of better options for me. They also had a bit of a controversy when the replaced their head brewer a couple of years ago. Fwiw, the coffee porter i had was pretty good. A friend had their vanilla porter, and he liked it but said that the other beers he'd had there weren't so great. I don't mean to crap on them when they're down, but there's a lot of strong local competition.

 

I don't know what happened, but here's some other mentions in the media.

From the Denver Post in September 2013: Arvada Beer Company fires brewer after complaints of bad beer

From Westword December 2013: After declining sales, Arada Beer Company reinvents its beer recipes and itself

 

I believe somebody said it should become Comrade West, but was shot down dutifully. [sadface]

 

I went once probably 2 years ago and it wasn't bad, I think it was after the whole brewmaster thing.
I didn't go back mainly because it wasn't near anything else I went to. But when I looked up their beer menu on a semi-regular basis, they didn't have anything to draw me back.

 

I've never even heard of this place...

 

It wasn't a bad place, but the location didn't help. Horrible parking and really nothing much around in that tiny area. The movie theater is down the steps, but far enough to make it difficult to capitalize on it. Plus, with Yak and Yeti just down the road, I just about always leaned towards the Indian food.

 

This is sad to me.

I moved to CO in 2010 and first heard about Arvada Beer a week after they opened. I moved from Chicago which at the time had no tap rooms, just brew pubs. I didn't realize at the time that the brewery tap room as we know it today even existed. My neighbor's brother in law was in my basement getting trashed on my homebrew when he described the whole situation to me. That pretty much blew my mind when I realized you could do this without a kitchen. A month or two later I learned about Golden City. (I wasn't very plugged in at the time.) Funny thing is I had been to Avery and knew they had a bar. I guess I just didn't put 2 and 2 together. It hurts me a little for these guys to fold.

 

+1 for never heard of them. I guess I need to do some research and hit some new around-Denver locales. I'm almost viewing my ignorance as a reflection on my diligence as a customer.

 

I liked their beers when I first went. That was when their old ("fired after complaints") brewmaster was there. The place was typically busy, too. Parking totally sucked, though. If anything, the place seemed to fade a bit after that drama. The last time I was there it was dead on a Saturday evening.

Like @Mebuzzard mentions, the Yak and Yeti is right there. While it seems odd, they're a consistently better option than the vast majority of places in town. The food's good, too.

 

Aside from Yak and Yeti. Since Arvada had first opened Rickoli, Grand Lake and Odyssey all opened up in that vicinity as well.

 

Speaking of Grand Lake - what's the deal with them? They've opened and closed numerous times in numerous places. Are they anything more than a contracted brand at this point or are they brewing in Arvada?

 

I went to ABC once, and left underwhelmed. I'm surprised they are closing though because the taproom was decently busy that day, and seemed to have a good crowd everytime I drove past.

All I can tell you is that there 100% no longer a brewery in Grand Lake. Trust me, I spent an hour driving around looking for it last summer. I had heard that they were moving to Arvada, but in what 'capacity' I don't know.

 

As far as I have heard the brewery itself is actually still near Grand Lake, there is no tap room there however so you cant actually go to it. The only place to actually drink the beer is the tap room in Arvada. So I guess they are somehow transporting it down??? Not really sure.

 

We stopped at Avada sometimes. That little area has really come along. You've got Mannekin Frites around the corner, with Belgian beer and fries, and the Arvada Tavern has turned into one of the better craft cocktail locations outside of downtown. Parking's not too bad, if you get off the street and park down by the old railroad station. Right down the hill is the movie theater, too... so a good night out can definitely be had over there.

 

Schoolhouse is a good place for a drink too. Good beer list and even better whiskey selection. Food leaves a little something to be desired.
Kline's beer hall (from the same owners as Arvada Tavern) is slated to open in Old Town Arvada sometime this year.

 

I used to live in Arvada, their grand opening was on my birthday and it was a great place to pop in with kids on a Saturday afternoon. The beer was sometimes good sometimes not so much but I went back often because the people were great, but when I moved I never really went back. Sad to see them go.

 

I never loved it but I went 3 times and it was always busy. But the last time was at least a year ago, probably 18 months. I remember thinking, there's nothing for me here but these people seem to be very happy regulars--it was Cheers!-like, everybody (but me and ms. southdenverhoo) seemed to know each other. And it was full, or close to it. Wonder what happened.

Curious why people think that's a bad location, seems like the heart of downtown Arvada to me, and while like most downtowns there isn't a parking lot directly adjacent, there's a critical mass of other shops, restaurants, bars etc that makes for good pedestrian traffic. Plus I never had to park more than two-three blocks away.

 

I think the location is nice as well; it will be really nice when the train starts running.

 

Perhaps it's the demographics of Arvada. It could also be the light rail construction that hurt businesses. Right across the street from Arvada Beer was the Archive Room, which closed in under 4 years. Then the U Baron Group (Etia's, Silvi's Kitchen) opened up the Braun Tap House, which shuttered in less than 2 years.