USA, CO: Fate Brewing Co. closes its doors after a six-year run

Boulder’s embattled Fate Brewing Co. closes its doors after a six-year run on May 27. According to an email sent to fans by owner Mike Lawinski, the costs of trying to open a brewpub, denied by federal licensing authorities, and “undeserved negative coverage” from the Daily Camera forced the brewery that popularized watermelon kolsch to close, Eater Denver reported on May 21.

Big F Restaurant Group veteran Lawinski opened Fate Brewing in February 2013, taking over the former Jose Muldoon’s Tex-Mex restaurant. The 230-seat brewpub features a two-level patio as well as a full roster of food and beers.

Trouble started for the brewery last October, when Fate Ale House, the brewery’s Lafayette location, was seized by the town for tax issues, according to Westword. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2018. Fate also bought Avery Brewing’s warehouses in 2015 and planed to convert the space into a brewery and restaurant, but Westword reports “the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau rejected Fate’s application.”

Then in April, Westword reports that Fate sold the rights to use the trademarked name Fate Brewing for $20,000 to McFate Brewing in Scottsdale, Arizona, a company Fate Brewing sued in 2016 for using a similar name.

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