Earlier this month at he Great American Beer Festival, Banded Oak Brewing collected a bronze medal in the Contemporary American-Style category with their Mexican lager. That may or may not seem appropriate, but that’s not what this short post is about. Banded Oak closed its doors in Denver in September, that is before the festival. They are moving to the suburbs and into a restaurant that is also a bowling establishment and a bike shop.
In a story posted before the brewery closed, founder Will Curtin said the brewing landscape has changed significantly over the years, and believes that the traditional “garage brewery” model may be waning.
“I think sort of the age of a garage brewery is sort of, if not gone, going,” he said.
I hope that’s not true, because when I read that I thought immediately of a conversation with the late Greg Noonan, the pioneering founder of the Vermont Pub and Brewery.
“When the homebrewers stop entering the profession, and the backyard breweries are squeezed out, then it will become stagnant. You gotta keep getting the guys who say, ‘Cool, I can sell the beer I make. I can do it,’ ” he said.