USA, TX: Audacity Brew House closes its doors in Denton

On Nov. 11, Denton’s first microbrewery saw its last sunset, the North Texas Daily reported on November 28.

Audacity Brew House opened its doors in October 2014, introducing Denton to locally brewed craft beers. Owned by brew-master Doug Smith, Audacity also hosted events such as an open mic night and Karma Yoga days.

Tucked away on Shady Oaks Drive, the local brews stopped being produced two weeks ago due to a clash of investors.

The taproom wasn’t making as much money as they thought and hoped they would, taproom bartender and brewer Adam Briggs said.

“It’s not like they didn’t like each other, but it’s just basically disagreements, and not enough money was going through the taproom,” Briggs said. “Initially it was supposed to be supported solely by the taproom.”

After the last batch was brewed, Ben E. Keith, a foodservice distributor, stopped distributing the beer to all the local businesses who sold it.

The seven main beers, four seasonal beers and three “Abbey Series” beers could be bought at local restaurants, corner markets and grocery stores.

At the UNT homecoming game on Saturday, Nov. 11, Thadera Salazar sold the last two cans of Audacity’s Bulletproof Texas Pale Ale at Apogee Stadium.

Salazar said Audacity was one of the more popular beers that game-goers enjoyed at the football games.

“We had about three cases, and there are several beer stands around here,” Salazar said. “We sold out almost immediately [at homecoming]. I would say it is a popular beer, I am surprised it shut down.”

Briggs said there was not enough foot traffic in the taproom due to the location and that shutting down was a long time coming.

“Everyone is going through the stages of grief,” Briggs said. “But at this point, especially for me, it hit me last week, ‘Oh, we’re actually closing.'”

With deals like beer on tap for $2.50 on Wednesdays, Briggs said he was confused why college kids wouldn’t flock to it.

“We had a great group of regulars,” Briggs said. “It’s kind of a strange thing. I guess people go where they want to go.”

After their last day brewing, the only thing left to do was clean out the tanks and get ready to sell them.

The beer was dumped but the freezer remained because they wanted to make sure there was enough beer on tap until the last moment. Anything extra was thrown out.

Midway Craft House off Hickory Street in the Fry Street area also sells cans of Audacity and has the beer available on tap in their bar area.

Madison Moore, an employee at Midway Craft House, said it didn’t seem to sell that well there either.

“There were people who bought it because it’s a local beer,” Moore said.

The dimly lit green building was filled with memorabilia and barrels of beer on display, with people around drinking beer flights and playing board games at tables.

Ranger the dog lingered around the taproom like he was a customer enjoying a brew and the ambiance.

The next thing for employees to do was find new jobs, which Briggs already secured at a brewery in Pilot Point.

“It is a bummer because it is such a cool and unique place where you can come in and there’s no overbearing vibe,” Briggs said. “We have people of all kinds here. I wish it was staying around.”

30 November, 2017