Wormtown Co-Founder Set to Open New Massachusetts Brewery
Wormtown Brewery co-founder Ben Roesch and his wife Adrienne Roesch will open a new brewery in the Bay State early this year, the two announced.
Whitinsville, Massachusetts-based Murder Hill “will offer a wide range of original brews and collaborations, as well as food and occasional entertainment,” according to a press release.
The Roesches expect Murder Hill to open in early February, “as soon as the licensing process is complete,” Adrienne Roesch told Brewbound via email.
Murder Hill will operate as a “single site-taproom with food, drafts, and crowlers to go,” she said.
“Once we establish a few brands, [we] will look to have them brewed and canned at a brewery that has capacity and infrastructure,” Adrienne Roesch wrote. “Some of the cans from the off-site brews may make their way to retail stores.”
Murder Hill’s location is the former home of Purgatory Beer Co., which Wormtown nearly acquired with the intention to have Ben Roesch run it as a separate business, according to a report from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. However, Ben Roesch decided he’d prefer to strike out on his own.
“I’m so excited for Ben and Adrienne, both because it will be a really cool opportunity for him to own his brewery and taproom, and he gets to do it alongside his partner in life,” Wormtown CEO David Fields told the Telegram & Gazette.
Ben Roesch departed Wormtown two months ago, Adrienne Roesch told Brewbound.
“Ben has been working on Murder Hill exclusively for the last few months,” she said.
Under Ben Roesch’s leadership as brewmaster, Wormtown’s production output reached a five-year peak of 31,238 barrels in 2019, according to the May/June 2023 edition of the Brewers Association’s New Brewer magazine.
Ben Roesch was a steady presence for the brewery in 2021, when a majority of its ownership team stepped away after reports of workplace toxicity surfaced in the industry-wide reckoning with sexual harassment and hostile work environments.
Bauman’s Cider, Von Ebert Brewing to Take Over Former Ecliptic Brewing Locations
Gervais, Oregon-based Bauman’s Cider has announced it will move most operations from Bauman’s Farm to the former home of Ecliptic Brewing’s Moon Room in Southeast Portland, according to The Oregonian.
The move comes two months after Ecliptic was acquired by Great Frontier Holdings, a platform company formed in 2023 by the merger of Ninkasi Brewing and Ashland Hard Seltzer parent company Wings & Arrows. In the deal, Great Frontier acquired Ecliptic’s intellectual property and plans to produce the brand at Ninkasi’s brewery.
In Portland, Bauman’s will open its first taproom at the 10,000 sq. ft. location, which housed the now-shuttered Base Camp Brewing before Ecliptic moved in November 2021.
“We want the space to become a showcase for world-class Northwest ciders, Bauman’s as well as other local makers, and to expose more people in Portland to what is happening on the farm,” founder Christine Walter (neé Bauman) told the Oregonian.
Bauman’s, which opened in 2015, produced nearly 4,300 barrels in 2023, according to the Oregonian.
In other Ecliptic-related news, Portland, Oregon-based Von Ebert Brewing is taking over the former Ecliptic taproom and production facility on North Cook Street in Portland. The move will allow Von Ebert to expand distribution and increase its annual production from 4,000 barrels, to up to 20,000 barrels, according to a press release.
Ecliptic closed the location in November. While the brewery operated a full kitchen at the location, Von Ebert plans to “reimagine” the space, debating adding food carts, a dog park and more, according to The Oregonian. Von Ebert is expected to reopen the taproom this spring, according to the release.
The facility will also continue to produce some Ecliptic beers, according to former Ecliptic owner and brewmaster John Harris.
“I am very happy to have found Von Ebert Brewing to move into the brewery I created and that the building will continue to make beer,” Harris said in the release. “Von Ebert Brewing makes awesome beers and I look forward to working with them to continue to produce small batch Ecliptic beers on the same equipment.”
Report: The Unknown Future of Rockmill Brewery
Lancaster, Ohio-based Rockmill Brewery is facing foreclosure, but could stay in business if a planned sale is completed, according to a report by Columbus Monthly.
The more than 23-year-old brewery, located on a 23-acre farm, has gone through several brief stints of shutting down then reopening since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2023, the brewery started operating on just weekends under new leadership – Austin Caulk and Taylor Scribner. The new operators are attempting to buy the property that Rockmill resides on, but have faced several delays.
Additionally, the deal is not guaranteed to go through, as the brewery is facing foreclosure, following a civil suit filed in early 2023 that included debts owed to multiple banks and an excavation company, Columbus Monthly reported. In August, a Fairfield County judge ordered the brewery’s property be appraised, advertised and sold.
Owner Matthew Barbee had been attempting to sell the brewery at the time of the civil suit, listing it for $6.75 million in July 2022. He did not file an official response to the 2023 lawsuit, citing a lack of money for attorneys’ fees, according to the report.
The foreclosure lawsuit follows several other civil suits. In November 2022, the owner of the building that housed the brewery, William Schottenstein, filed a civil suit against Barbee and Rockmill in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for failure to pay rent in 2020 and defaulting on the lease agreement, claiming the brewery owed him more than $250,000, plus interest. The case is still pending, according to the report.
The civil suit came six months after Heartland Bank – where Schottenstein is a member of the board of directors – had secured its own judgment against Rockmill for $390,000, claiming the brewery defaulted on a loan.
The litigation is on top of claims from former employees that Barbee has allegedly failed to give the company the attention and oversight it needs to operate, with him spending most of his time in Puerto Rico, according to the report.
Caulk and Scribner are pursuing buying only the property, not Rockmill’s LLC, but plan to keep the name, branding and recipes of the brewery under a new LLC, according to the report. If a sale is not completed before the property enters foreclosure, the property will go to auction, opening up other potential buyers to outbid Caulk and Scribner.
No number was given for how much Caulk and Scriber are attempting to buy the property for, nor was a foreclosure date listed. The full report is available here, including comments from Barbee, Caulk and current and former Rockmill employees.
In other news:
Elder Brewing Co. has closed after more than six years in Joliet, Illinois. Ownership is still exploring “other options” for the company, including “renting the turnkey operation, selling Elder Brewing Co. and/or its assets” or another “creative combination that comes through.”
Ownership announced the news on Facebook last week, writing: “Our lives, the world, and the economy have all changed drastically since we began this adventure, and we don’t have the resources to continue down the current path. We have done the best we could with what we had, including COVID relief and grant programs, and are honestly thankful to have made it this long. At the end of the day, we have decided to focus on our family and careers outside of the brewing industry.”
In Humble, Texas, another 6-year-old brewery, Ingenious Brewing, has closed its doors.
The company announced the news on Facebook the day after Christmas, citing the continued impact of the pandemic, “financial losses” and a “lack of viable assistance options” after “multiple rounds of loans” and employee retention credits. The brewery’s last day was January 6.
And in Georgetown, Colorado, Guanella Pass Brewing has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, The Denver Post reported. The brewery has more than $2.3 million in debt, well above the $860,000 in gross revenue the company recorded in 2023, according to the report.
Guanella Pass filed for bankruptcy on December 30, three weeks after On Tap Credit Union filed a lawsuit against the brewery and majority owners Steven and Stacey Skalski for more than $36,000 of credit card debt.
Guanella Pass’ bankruptcy filing details multiple debts, according to the Denver Post, including:
- $573,000 to First Savings Bank, stemming from a 2021 loan;
- $256,000 to Clear Creek Economic Development Corp., loaned in 2019;
- $7,000 owed to the Skalskis;
- $135,000 to the U.S. Small Business Administration;
- $100,000 to the Colorado Department of Revenue;
- $32,000 to a food vendor;
- $22,000 to the brewery’s bookkeeper;
- And $10,000 to a power company.
No details yet on what the filing means for the future of the brewery, which has continued to post to social media in the last week promoting new beers and merchandise.