The Light Dims on Dauntless
After years of location changes, Dauntless pulls the plug amid sky-rocketing construction costs. The stage is set for a new brewery to take over the former Bristol & 291 Distillery space.
In a Facebook post, Dauntless Brewing announced that they would not be crossing the finish line and would be abandoning their brewery project.
We had originally connected with Dauntless’ Robert Beaird and Ross Miller after seeing their concept pop up in July 2018. Over beers at Storybook Brewing, we learned they had originally scouted a location in the old Independent Records building on Bijou, but had settled on the old Springs Auto Sales location at 428 S Nevada in early 2019. After some lease-related issues with that location, Dauntless was on the hunt again for a space to land, eventually finding a new home at 104 N Tejon, a few doors down from the future location of Bell Brothers, that November. The location presented them with more delays, most notably needing structural engineers to make sure the space could hold brewing equipment safely. Then, 2020 brought us all the pandemic, which threw more wrenches into Dauntless’ timeline, and we didn’t hear much from them for awhile.
In July 2022, Dauntless made a surprise announcement they were planning on opening up in the old 291 Distillery and Bristol Brewing location, which had been empty since 291 moved to the ex-Colorado Gold facility, so things seemed to be on the up and up.
The 1647 S Tejon location has certainly undergone a major facelift in the past year. Gone is the metal siding in lieu of roll-up doors and an updated brick facade, and for awhile, papered windows hid the treasures and activity within. Sadly, after some time, it seemed like not much was changing (at least on the outside), with the front door alcove providing more of a shelter for transient individuals than preparing for the bustle of a brewery crowd. The parking out front became overflow parking for the UHaul shop across the street and while the paper came down off the windows, the interior didn’t seem to change, which didn’t bode well for completion of the project, in our eyes.
A little over a year into the new space, the Dauntless team decided that after 4 different locations and five total years into the project, it just wasn’t in the cards.
Talking with Beaird via email, he cited rising constructions costs mainly playing into the decision to halt the project.
“the inflation of construction costs was the biggest hurdle for us. Everything is almost double what it was 5 years ago.”
Here’s where there’s a silver lining…Dauntless has already started the buildout process, and any purchase of the business would include their brand-new Craftwerk 5 BBL Steam-fired Brewhouse, all of the work they’ve put into the building like bathrooms, sloped floors with drains, mill rooms and more. They’re offering all of it for a really reasonable price ($150k) too…You can read more on their ProBrewer ad.
Interested parties can contact Robert Beaird at robert@dauntlessbeer.com
While we are saddened to hear of this news, we’re hopeful (especially considering who’s contacted us already) that another brewery will step in and find success here in Colorado Springs!
If you see Robert around town, buy him a beer!
