Iconic Denver craft beer bar the Falling Rock Tap House will permanently close on Sunday, June 27, after 24 years in business.
Owners Chris, Steve and Al Black made the announcement Saturday in a blog post titled “So long and thanks for all the beers.” They acknowledged that the news “may come as a shock” to some of their patrons, but the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the Falling Rock’s business “has just been the icing on the cake of the last five years.”
“A year-long construction project that caused a 30% drop in sales, changes in the neighborhood that have impacted our business negatively (like crazy late-night crowds and decreased office usage), continued increasing competition from our suppliers, challenges in finding kitchen staff plus rapidly increasing costs all have added up to a financially unsustainable situation,” they wrote. “After consultations with our landlords (who have bent over backwards during COVID to help us and have been amazing for the last 24 years to work with) we have all decided that us closing will allow both parties to move on without causing financial harm to either one.”
The Blacks thanked their customers, staff and craft brewery partners for the last 24 years. They offered “special thanks” to Crooked Stave Artisan Distributing, Elite Brands and California’s Russian River for their help over the years.
“This last year has been horrific and Falling Rock would not have made it through without the support of Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing keeping us supplied in Blind Pig and Pliny the Elder kegs,” they added. “I know it took a lot of extra effort to keep the kegs rolling to us, but it helped keep us alive.”
The Blacks also thanked the customers who purchased beer from their cellar sale and those who donated to a GoFundMe campaign earlier this year that raised $18,900 from 177 donors, but fell shy of its $30,000 goal.
“You got us through the winter and gave us a shot at surviving, I’m sorry that we didn’t ultimately succeed but you have our undying gratitude,” the Blacks wrote. “Thank You.”
Natalie Cilurzo, Russian River co-owner and president, called Falling Rock’s impending closure “absolutely heartbreaking news.”
“Chris and Cheryl have become good friends which makes it even sadder knowing what a painful decision this was to make and how devastated they are feeling,” she told Brewbound. “Before Falling Rock opened, Rock Bottom was pretty much the only place to hang out in Denver during GABF. Once Chris opened his specialty import and craft beer-centric bar in LoDo, we all flocked to see it that first year and never stopped being the gathering place whenever we are in Denver. I even had my very first Belgian beer at Falling Rock, Westmalle Tripel, and I will never forget it.
“That first year Chris was open, we took over the downstairs room with Tomme Arthur, Gina Marsaglia and a few other industry vets drinking our way through his Belgian beer list and putting the empties up on the shelf. He never took them down! Chris and Falling Rock are the reason Vinnie and I chose to distribute in Colorado. Denver’s beer church is closing signaling the end of an iconic era. But Chris is as passionate as anyone about the craft beer industry and I believe we will be seeing him again soon!”
Bob Pease, president and CEO of national trade group the Brewers Association, added that he was “saddened to hear” of Falling Rock’s planned closure.
“When I think of iconic on premise locations to drink craft beer, I think of the Brickskeller/RFD in D.C, Hop Leaf in Chicago, Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Toronado in San Francisco and Falling Rock in Denver,” he said. “I have many fond memories personally of enjoying great draught beer at Falling Rock either early during Great American Beer Festival week or before a Colorado Rockies game. More recently I grew to look forward to the Falling Rock pop-up pub at the annual Big Beers Festival in Breckenridge.
“Chris and his team helped build craft beer culture in Denver and they will be missed.”
The Blacks recalled their efforts to make Great American Beer Festival week special in their farewell letter.
“We changed the Denver beer scene and completely changed GABF week,” they wrote. “When we opened the Falling Rock in 1997, bars/restaurants participation surrounding the GABF was almost exclusively hanging a banner out front welcoming the GABF crowd and selling buckets of Sam Adams for a discounted price. Falling Rock was not having ANY of that. We called up some breweries and had some special kegs sent in. In 1998 we started having a schedule of special tappings and by 1999 we decided to expand the week by having a kick-off tapping on Monday.”
The cancellation of 2020’s GABF due to the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be more adversity for Falling Rock.
As the craft brewing movement that Falling Rock helped foster and grow expanded beyond beer bars and brewpubs to on-premise outlets that sold offerings beyond just those produced by the owning brewery, Chris Black was vocal in his objections to those outlets and the harm they caused beer bars such as the Falling Rock. In 2016, those issues put Black at odds with Oskar Blues and founder Dale Katechis, when the Longmont craft brewery announced plans for a restaurant, beer hall and music venue in LoDo.
“When you want to sell your own products, I am a huge supporter, when your primary goal is to sell other people’s beers, I’m not so much in favor,” Black wrote at the time. “That’s kinda the job for the accounts out in the marketplace. As you might have noticed, there are over 4,300 breweries in the U.S., 300+ in Colorado alone, I have LOTS of choices, & I choose to spend my money on beers brewed by brewers that don’t actively & directly compete with me. Oh, I understand it’s ‘legal’ for you to carry other people’s beers, that doesn’t make it right, or the right thing to do for your brand.”
As Falling Rock prepares to close its doors, other iconic craft beer bars have been slow to reopen, including San Francisco’s Toronado, which teased its draft list on social media on Sunday — the first time since March 2020, and Washington, D.C.’s ChurchKey and the Sovereign.
As for Falling Rock’s last days, the bar will be closed June 21 and June 22 as remaining inventory is sorted through in preparation of selling off their remaining stock of beer, liquor and various pieces of memorabilia. However, the Blacks said neon signs and tap handles will go back to the breweries and wholesalers that own them. The bar is slated to reopen June 23 and June 24 from 5 to 10 p.m. MT, June 25 from noon to 10 p.m. MT and Sunday at noon.