Oct. 24 marked the start and now will mark the end for Kannah Creek Brewing’s 21-year run

Tim Harty, The Business Times

Their hand-crafted beers are on sale, be it a pint or a growler, because all of Kannah Creek Brewing Company’s inventory has to go.

Jim and Bernadette Jeffryes can’t take it with them when they retire, and retired they soon will be, as Oct. 24 has been designated the final day of Kannah Creek Brewing. And that has special meaning for the couple. They opened Kannah Creek at 1960 N. 12th St. on that day 21 years ago.

They could have closed sooner, but they liked the idea of waiting until that anniversary hit to shut things down.

“We just got to a point where we’re like, ‘We just can’t do it anymore,’” Bernadette said. “It’s a tough business and takes a lot of time and energy, and we’re ready to put our time and energy somewhere else, you know? We’re in our early seventies, well, almost mid seventies, getting there, so we don’t want to be doing this when we’re 80.”

Bernadette said she and Jim have been trying to sell Kannah Creek Brewing Co. for a couple years, but “we just haven’t found the right person to take it over.”

So, no sale materialized, and it was time to give up on that.

“It’s just a tough time, the economy, inflation” Bernadette said, adding studies show people are drinking less alcohol in general these days.

And Jim said of the food factor in the brewpub equation, “Restaurants are just a tough business.”

Plus, the Jeffryes don’t own the building, so there was no building and land to package with the business.

Still, things could have gone a much different way, a better way, if not for that pesky COVID-19 pandemic that kicked off the 2020s.

“We’re just now, this year, getting back in the black after COVID,” Jim said. “So that’s kind of tough for people to see when they’re asking for your financials for the last five years, and you’re losing a little money or just breaking even. They want to see you making, like, giant profits. That’s why they want to buy it.”

Of course, giant profit margins are not the way of restaurants and brewpubs, as Jim pointed out even if Kannah Creek had remained profitable during and after the pandemic, “if you’re doing 5 percent, you’re about industry standard.”

The microbrewing landscape has changed, too. There’s plenty of competition these days in the Grand Valley, and that wasn’t the case on Oct. 24, 2005, when Kannah Creek Brewing opened.

The suggestion that The Rockslide Brew Pub was around at that time prompted a quick, “Yeah, and that’s it,” from Jim.

Bernadette pointed out Palisade Brewing existed back then, too, but it didn’t have the restaurant side of things yet.

Palisade Brewing has an interesting connection to Kannah Creek, because Jim worked there before he decided to try his hand at his own brewery.

“I just knew I wanted to open my own place,” he said, “so when we found this place for lease, we decided to make the jump and go ahead and do a brewpub. So that was fun. That was exciting at that point.”

He acknowledged it also was “a little scary,” because at that time “it was a real Budweiser/Coors Light town.”

“Craft beer wasn’t big in this town yet,” Bernadette said, “so I think we really brought something to the community. … I think we brought good beer into the town. It took a little time, a couple years to take off, but after people realized what we had going here, it did really well.”

They were going well enough to warrant an expansion as Kannah Creek opened a second location, Edgewater Brewery, at 905 Struthers Ave. in 2013.

The Jeffryes were able to sell Edgewater in early 2025 to an ownership group that returned brewing capability to the building and opened WestCo Brewing Co.

Meanwhile, the original Kannah Creek location remained for sale, but interested buyers weren’t taking a shine to the duality of a brewpub.

“We had some people interested in the restaurant, they just weren’t interested in the brewery side of it,” Bernadette said.

Jim said the brewing is a special thing, but when people aren’t familiar with it, they’re often afraid of it.

Bernadette added brewing is a craft and a special niche at this point, but for those willing to take a risk, there is a reward.

“You do have a good profit margin on the beer,” she said, “so it’s a good part of the business.”

With the final day fast approaching, there’s plenty to do, so when Oct. 24 is in the books, Jim knows what he’ll do on the morning of Oct. 25.

“We’re gonna sleep in on that day,” he said.

Bernadette added she hopes they’re not recovering from a hangover.

Then, they’ll probably watch some football, maybe do some barbecue.

Well, that thought was nice while it lasted, as Bernadette said they’ll hang out for day, “and then we’ve got to come back on Monday and Tuesday and get everything tidied up. Do a lot of deep cleaning and all that stuff, so there’ll be some work to do still with that last week.”

Further review led her to add they need to “get the books closed and get our guys to do the taxes and just get it all done, done, done. All that, it’ll take a few months. But that’s all right. Our day to day will be very different.”

“Yeah, not as intense,” Jim said.

When there’s nothing more to do with Kannah Creek Brewing Company, they may not miss the day to day of operating a business, but there will be things they miss.

Asked what they will miss most, Jim said, “I think the people.”

And Bernadette offered, “It feels good to be a good employer, you know, and make good beer, and make good food, and have people come in and have a good time. All that feels really good. You’ll miss that part, you know, being part of the community and stuff.”

“We’ll be part of the community,” Jim added, “but just in a different way now. We’re participants and not drivers.”

Jim summed up the Kannah Creek experience with: “Well, it definitely was a big adventure. Lots of ups and downs. We rode it out. We knew it wouldn’t be simple. And once it started getting a little more simple, we opened Edgewater. And that turned out to be, probably a mistake in the long run, but … ”

“But we sold it and did all right,” Bernadette said.

And Jim finished the thought with, “That was still a good time doing that. But it was a lot of work.” 

Kannah Creek Brewing Prepares For Final Day

Kannah Creek Brewing Company, 1960 N. 12th St. is closing its doors for good on Oct. 24, ending a 21-year run in Grand Junction.

For that final day, which is a Saturday, Kannah Creek plans to have some live music on the patio, do some giveaways and, of course, drink some beer.

Until that day arrives, Kannah Creek is selling $5 pints of beer, well drinks and wines, trying to get rid of all of its inventory.