Downtown Denver brewery closing after successful nine-year run

When Scott O’Hearn and Philip Phifer opened LowDown Brewery + Kitchen in 2014, it was on their own terms: a brewery with food — unusual at the time — on an underused corner in Denver’s urban core, and serving straightforward beers rather than trendy styles.

On Sept. 30, O’Hearn will close the brewery for good, but once again it is on his own terms, for the most part, which is a rare achievement for craft breweries in Colorado.

“It was a really good run. We had a great staff culture and customer culture … and we were extremely profitable, even through Covid,” he said.

But about a year ago, LowDown’s landlord began asking whether the brewery wanted to renew its lease at 800 Lincoln St. because he’d received an offer from a developer who wanted to buy the building. At first, O’Hearn and Phifer (who moved to Oregon a few years a...