Mockery Brewing, which helped solidify the River North Art District as a brewery-focused neighborhood when it opened in 2014, said Monday that it will close its doors.
“We did it! We reached the finish line! After 9 solid years of slinging awesome beers and sharing our little corner of Denver with thousands of amazing people, we have decided to raise our arms in victory and ride off into the sunset,” the brewery, at 3501 Delgany St., posted on Facebook.
“We will be celebrating everything that has been Mockery over the next month and wrapping it all up with a farewell party on Saturday, August 12. Please come out and enjoy one last beer with us and let us toast some of the best friends a brewery could ask for!”
Mockery was founded by Zach and Rachel Rabun when RiNo already had five breweries, but rather than opening in the area that extended along Market and Larimer streets from LoDo, whey picked a spot in the then-nearly empty stretch of Brighton Boulevard.
Their goal at the time was to brew half of their beers in adherence to the 15th century Bavarian beer purity law, Reinheitsgebot, which forbade brewers from using anything but water, barley and hops in their recipes. The other half of the brewery’s beer would make “a mockery” of the law by using fruits and spices and other flavors and ingredients.
Over the years, Mockery became known for its sprawling patio, its flagship Rock the F*** On Forever IPA, its unusual styles and its collaboration with other breweries, like Baere Brewing; in 2020, just before the pandemic, Mockery and Baere brewed a portion of a beer in a 10-gallon kettle while floating in a 12-foot inflatable raft down the South Platte River through Denver.
Rabun told The Denver Post that the closure is “a culmination of factors,” including rising costs, construction in the neighborhood, “and my spinal integrity, among other things.”
But Rabun believes the overall state of craft beer in Colorado is in good shape. “The challenges faced by breweries today are very different from those of 15 years ago,” and include competition from legalized cannabis, non-alcoholic beers and ready-to-drink canned cocktails.
“But there are also more resources and broader acceptance of craft beer. When I started brewing, the idea of sour beers, high ABVs, huge IBUs, and canned craft beer were all revolutionary,” he added. “Thankfully, the average craft beer drinker feels much more comfortable walking into a taproom and ordering a saison without so much trepidation.”
Mockery follows 10 Barrel Brewing and Epic Brewing, which closed in November and December, respectively, of 2022. Both were located in RiNo as well. The neighborhood is still packed with beer makers, however, as Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Black Shirt Brewing, River North Brewery, Our Mutual Friend Brewing, 14er Brewing and Odell Brewing occupy the area southeast of the train tracks, while Great Divide and Left Hand Brewing operate taprooms on the northwest side, along Blue Moon and New Belgium Brewing’s pilot brewery, which is in the Source Hotel.
Four other breweries have closed or announced their closure within Denver’s city limits in 2023, while three have opened (or reopened), and another three are under construction.
The closures are Wah Gwan Brewing, MobCraft Beer and Counter Culture Brewery & Grille, with Dos Luces Brewing planning to close on July 29. The openings and reopenings are Alpine Dog Brewing, Crazy Mountain Brewery and Denver Beer Co.’s Lowry location. Monolith Brewing, 4 Noses Brewing’s Denver brewery and taproom, and BrewDog are under construction.
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