Photography by Pat Eby
The exterior of Wellspent Brewing Co.'s location at 2917 Olive.
In an emotional Facebook post published yesterday afternoon, the owner of Wellspent Brewing Co. reluctantly announced the brewery's immediate closure. A flood of remorseful comments flowed in almost instantaneously.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our little brewery, and I couldn’t be more thankful for our customers and crew,” owner Kyle Kohlmorgen said in the post. “We made great beer, built a great team, and welcomed so many folks from St. Louis and beyond.
“Our business cannot support the amount of debt we took on to get started,” the post continued. After starting the business too aggressively, Kohlmorgen hoped to hold on long enough to reach a break-even point. “We did all we could, and it wasn’t enough.”
Photography by Pat Eby
Wellspent Brewing Co. opened in Midtown last March and specialized in lagers, sours, and Belgian-style beers (not to be confused with Wellbeing Brewing Co. in Maryland Heights, which only brews non-alcoholic beers).
Brewing beer seemed a natural fit for Kohlmorgen, a chemical engineer and beer lover who also dabbled in home brewing. He and his wife Angela acquired a long-vacant early 20th-century movie house at 2917 Olive and got to work on the renovation, which included preserving a mirrored pair of plaster marquees from the original theater.
Photography by Pat Eby
SLM previously wrote that “early in the process, Kohlmorgen crafted an old-fashioned mission statement that encapsulates the essence of what ‘wellspent’ means to him and his wife…writ large in a mural on the tasting room wall.”
Photography by Pat Eby
Wellspent’s beers included revolving offerings from breweries around the country, earning plaudits from its customers and Kohlmorgen's peers. The brewery became known for its frequent events, including movies projected onto the courtyard patio's wall every Friday night.
At the end of the post, Kohlmorgen admitted that to realize a commitment to quality in both beer and experience required "a LOT more money than we had.”
By the final paragraph, the brewer's angst was palpable. “I love making beer. I don’t want to do anything else. We have a lot to sort out, but my next (professional) chapter will be making beer. Always learning. Always growing. Always striving to be a better brewer.”
Photography by Pat Eby
