Wilding Brands, the company behind Denver Beer Co., is shutting down its 35,000-square-foot brewing facility at 4455 Jason St. in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood. Instead of running its own production site, the company plans to hire a contract brewer to make its beer going forward.
Wilding Brands Chief Development Officer Charlie Berger confirmed the closure to BusinessDen, telling the outlet that shifting to contract brewing marks a real change in how the company operates. “I’m not 100% sure it’s cheaper in the short term, but it’s just a different business model,” Berger said. The company’s broader portfolio also includes Great Divide and Upslope Brewing, according to the same report.
Not everything under the Wilding umbrella is affected. Stem Ciders will continue to be made at its own production facility and taproom in Lafayette, BusinessDen reports, meaning the Sunnyside closure is specific to the beer side of the business rather than the company’s entire operation.
A Facility With Roots Going Back Over a Decade
The Sunnyside site has a longer history than Wilding Brands itself. Known as the Canworks facility, it started out as a Denver Beer Co. brewery in 2014, according to The Denver Post. More recently, it had served as the production hub for Great Divide, Station 26 and Upslope under the Wilding banner, with beer production for all three breweries taking place there, per the same report…