USA, CO: Goldspot Brewing sold to new owners

Goldspot Brewing, which was founded three and a half years ago by Matt Hughes and Alex Sward, has been sold to new owners, who will take over the taproom this weekend, the Westword reported on July 11.

The new group consists of Ryan and Winnie DuBois, who had been looking to start a brewery for some time, and Kelissa Hieber, who has been Goldspot's head brewer and day-to-day operations manager for the past couple of years.

The sale is part of a wave of changes over the past eighteen months in Colorado that has seen more than a dozen small breweries fold up shop or sell to new owners. These include DeSteeg Brewing, Beryl's Beer Company, Deep Draft Brewing, Wit's End Brewing, Elk Mountain, Pug Ryan's and J Wells Brewing.

The tiny but much-loved brewery at 4970 Lowell Boulevard was paying for itself, says Hughes, but since the two owners both maintained day jobs (Hughes in insurance and Sward in consulting), they had trouble taking Goldspot to the next level.

"The first year was our best year, probably because I took a sabbatical from my job" to do the brewing, to do sales and to interact with customers, Hughes explains. "Once I stepped away and I didn't have time to focus on those things, it went down a bit. If you don't have someone there every day to develop a strategy and execute it, it's untenable. That's what the brewery needs. That's what all these breweries need."

While Hughes says he's sad to walk away, he's happy that Hieber will staying on as the brewer and co-owner. "That’s the shiniest part of the silver lining for me."

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