Union Colony Brewery Closes
The past few years have not been kind to the Union Colony Brewery, in Greeley, Colorado. It’s slumped through a down economy since 2001, and the city’s smoking ban, enacted last December, didn’t help either. The brewery and pub, in business since Nov. 14, 1994, finally threw in the towel, and closed on May 26. One regular likened the brewpub’s closing to a blow to the community’s soul, and the Union Colony Brewery was the only brewpub in Greeley. Business conditions were aggravated by the sudden appearance of chain restaurants and bars in the city, which one regular dubbed “the Wal-Marts of the food and drink business.” There was also the general economic fallout of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the smoking ban saw Union Colony Brewery’s business drop by about 25 percent, as smoking customers gravitated to bars in nearby areas that didn’t prohibit smoking. The pub was known for beers such as Homestead Honey, Pawnee Buttes K
