Fate Brewing Closing

Feels like this has been coming for a while. Hell, I think I assumed it already happened.
2-3 years ago they seemed to have their ducks in a row. They had a big GABF booth with a long line, their watermelon beer was picking up steam, people were filling the place up, and they had a good brewer.
There might be something in the water in Boulder, though. While we've seen lots of other CO cities thrive, their beer scene has regressed. I really hope nothing ever happens to Backcountry.

 

Pretty sure this isn’t a Boulder issue. Fate was a 1 hit wonder who tried to parley that into a Brewpub in Boulder, supposedly trying to take over Avery’s former location in Avery Alley, a spot in Lafayette and a “proposed” location in Louisville. This may be way to simplistic, but Fate was a, sorry to say, below average brewery that tried to grow way too fast. I have no ill will towards Fate, but they had a niché Watermelon Kolsch and a semi-unique Coffee IPA, yet little else. This type of growth is/was Unsustainable in Boulder, Denver, or anywhere else in Colorado. The best thing that could happen to their spot on Arapahoe is for José Maldoon’s to Reopen.

 

*parlay.

 

And I guess not so coincedentally the AZ brewery has returned to his original name of Fate Brewing, instead of the adopted McFate Brewing.

 

I don't think what happened to Fate was Boulder's fault...but you have Walnut, Vindication, Powder Keg, and even Avery's situation. Those are just the recent ones. It's still big news when places close/falter in CO and Boulder has more than anyone else in spite of being smaller and not having many. Something is awry over there.

 

Shikes has a good recount of the issues that plagued Fate:

https://www.westword.com/restaurant...ng-will-close-at-the-end-of-may-2019-11351606

Sounds like Fate ran into city issues taking over the old Avery alley space and made a few other questionable expansion/strategic moves en route to folding...not sure how the Daily Camera is to blame but I guess you yell #fakenews for anything and everything these days.

 

I wonder what this negative press coverage actually said, who reads it, and why it affected the brewery so much.

Hopefully, though, the lesson here is to double, triple check your expansion visions. For a brewery to move from local to regional is quite a large step, which requires a significant up-front costs (and not just in $$). It's more than just changing biz models, it's changing the business

 

Vindication was in Gunnarrel & Powder Keg was in Niwot. Oddly enough, I know both Eric from Vindication and Eric from Powder Keg and I’m sure each one have far different views on way each endeavor did not succeed. There are so many factors. Recreational weed, local made Spirits, Saturation of the Market are just to name a few.

 

Maybe they're saying the negativity cost them $125k?? If so, that paper has some robust circulation.

 

I’m a little sadder about the other brewery in Shikes’ story, 38 State. I was in there yesterday and had a good pale ale and a better than good Belgian IPA. The stout is excellent IMO, though I didn’t have one yesterday.

No Juicy/Hazy IPA though.

There has been a “Brewery For Sale” ad for quite awhile which seems to fit 38 State, for a very low price considering the brewhouse & cellar and buildout of the taproom. Maybe the location wasn’t ideal, I don’t know.

I’ll bet somebody picks that one up pretty quickly, though.

 

Boulder is doing fine on breweries. Fate’s closure will leave 19 by my count (not including places with multiple locations like Upslope).

Boulder actually had the most breweries per capita in the United States not too long ago (maybe 2 years ago?), including a good chunk of Colorado’s old stalwarts (Boulder Beer, Avery, Mountain Sun, Twisted Pine).

I’m sure the lease prices are insane, though. That has to be an underlying stressor for all the closures, even though I think they each had their own unique circumstances. Not that anyone should be opening a brewery in Colorado with eyes on distribution right now, but I certainly wouldn’t do it in Boulder.

In terms of special can/bottle releases, I guess there are not really any hyped taprooms in Boulder, either.

 

Very well said. I think that Upslope will soon have 3 locations within the city limits of Boulder once the new S’Park building opens at 34th & Valmont. Talk about doing it right, Upslope has essentially taken the exact opposite path that Fate went down. It seems that Upslope has steadily grown and each expansion has been well timed and financially beneficial. Well Done Upslope.

 

Several reasons Vindication ended up closing according to what Eric told me and what former employees told me. Reasons ranged from the street construction that was going to obliterate traffic to their location (bad location IMO), no real advertising (word of mouth ain't gonna cut it these days) are just two reasons.

 

Exactly. I’ve also heard a few different reasons. Also, from Marty as well.To be honest, I never liked their location. It just always seemed too out of the way and it’s not like Gunbarrel is a big place. It’s a shame, because he and Marty are great guys. Towards the end, it almost seemed like Eric was just burnt out and ready for something different. I hope he is doing well and found a new passion to focus his energy.

 

Yep. Glad I still have some Freedom and Bolder Bold left.

 

I would assume it's hard to run a business that typically thrives based on gross margin when your fixed cost of a space/lease is as astronomical as I'm sure Boulder is. You've got to either have a tap room that just crushes or I guess try to distribute? It's hard to blame them for trying?

Also, not surprising that Boulder has a distinctly different beer scene then Denver/Fort Collins with that in mind (not making a judgement either way).