EVANS — If their product was lemons, the owners of TightKnit Brewing Co. would be making lemonade.
In this case, the former Greeley brewery is still making its iconic Greeley Beer, Irish Red and Greeley Nights staples, along with its sours, IPAs and high ABV products such as their stout and barrel-aged beers — just not in Greeley. TightKnit held its last event at its Eighth Street Plaza location in December, closing the doors for good.
Come Jan. 31, they’ll be back on tap, or at least in canned form, for the tasting public.
Owners Phil Jorgenson and Tommy Dyer and R.W. Collett, who also serves as head brewer, have moved their brewery to their Evans canning and distribution center at 3940 Carson Ave. It’s a bit out of the way, but it’s just a stone’s throw away from the Evans City Hall and Community Center and The Rush Event Center, which brings in the go-cart enthusiasts all summer.
And TightKnit will be Evans’ first craft brewery.
“We have a few of the city employees who visited our Greeley tap room. Now they’re going to be more regular. They’ve been trying for a while to get us to open a tasting room in Evans,” Jorgenson said.
TightKnit got its start in 2018, when it purchased the Brix Brewery LLC, which had been open on Eighth Street Plaza for the prior four years. Things went along so well that they opted to build a bigger brewing system in a new Evans industrial location. After surviving the pandemic, a perfect storm began to swirl around the brewery’s finances — the increased minimum wage, shipping costs, interest rates, inflation. Altogether, it meant that the brewery couldn’t make the beans count as easily as they had in previous years.
This cooler in TightKnit Brewing Co.’s new tasting room in Evans will stay full with their varied craft beer flavors. (Sharon Dunn/BizWest)“When my employees are only making half of what they were, (raising) the minimum wage did nothing for them,” Jorgenson said. “We had less hours, and they were making less money because overall tabs people had were 20%-30% less and they felt like they can’t tip as much.
“They were still making $25 an hour, but five years ago, they were making $45. … We had quite a bit less in sales, but my labor (costs) stayed the same.”
They figured the Evans distribution center could help balance out the gaps.
“As we started getting accepted outside our doors into other restaurants and liquor stores … we bought a canning machine … so we could start distributing,” Jorgenson said. “We felt that would take the peaks and valleys out of it, if we ever had any other shut downs, we wanted to be ready for it in case that happened again.”
And so far, their distribution is going well.
“At any one time we’re in nine to 11 counties in Colorado,” Jorgenson said. “And we self-distribute in parts of Larimer County and Weld. “We try to go to liquor stores and do tastings.”
At its highest point, the brewery had 16 employees; they’re now down to four, having shaved $100,000 off their labor costs.
So what does that mean for the new tasting corner in their operating brewery? They’ll be open on Fridays and Saturdays for tasting and mingling. They’ll still have some music nights, but not as much. They’ll open the doors for private events, too.
“The tasting room, even though we’ll be open, it’ll be icing. We’re actually keeping the tasting room because the best part of the brewery was seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they chatted and had a beer of ours.
“That was the most endearing thing about the business and meeting the patrons that become friends,” Jorgenson added. “That by far outweighs (the downside) of the brewing industry. We wanted to keep a little of that in our new location. It’s become a labor of love.”
TightKnit Brewing will be open from 4-9 p.m. Fridays and from 2-9 p.m. Saturdays, beginning Jan. 31.
TightKnit Brewing Co. head brewer and owner R.W. Collett is flanked by owners Phil Jorgenson, left, and Tommy Dyer, right, in front of the barrels the brewery uses to age some of its beer. The brewery will open Jan. 31 at its new location, 3940 Carson Ave., in Evans. (Sharon Dunn/BizWest) TightKnit Brewing Co.’s squeaky-clean brewing system at its Evans location will be roped off from the public during the brewery’s new tasting hours from 4-9 p.m. Fridays and from 2-9 p.m. Saturdays beginning Jan. 31. (Sharon Dunn/BizWest)This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2025 BizWest Media LLC. You can view the original here: TightKnit Brewing to open tasting room in Evans brewing center
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