PHOTO/ALLAN JUNG
Redemption Rock CEO Dani Babineau (right), with head of marketing Dan Carlson, believes with the proper support, Worcester can become a well-known beer town.
3 hours ago
Redemption Rock Brewing will close permanently on Dec. 29
Photo | WBJ File
Redemption Rock Brewing Co. in Worcester will close permanently on Dec. 29.
Redemption Rock Brewing, a craft brewery which opened in a former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Worcester’s Shrewsbury Street in January 2019, plans to permanently close on Dec. 29.
The closure will mark the end of a near-six-year run for the small craft brewery, cafe, and event space, which saw it navigate a global pandemic while becoming a prominent member of the city’s small business scene. Co-founders Dani Babineau, Greg Carlson, and Dan Carlson opened the brewery with the intent on turning it into a welcoming community gathering space focused on doing good.
“Despite our best efforts, we simply haven’t been able to grow the business enough to remain open,” a Saturday Instagram post announcing the closure reads. “And we’ve run out of time. But for the time we did have, we’re forever grateful.”
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The news came on Small Business Saturday, a marketing promotion created in 2010 to encourage holiday shopping at the nation’s small businesses. The brewery had hosted a market for local artisans and makers earlier in the day to mark the occasion.
“Before we ever opened, our vision was to be a canvas for the community,” the Saturday post regarding the closure said. “And for nearly six years, we were exactly that, in so many wonderful ways. This place was a special, joyful, and welcoming space, and that’s entirely a reflection of the people who spent their time here.”
The post says the business will continue its normal hours and offerings for as long as it can until its Dec. 29 closure.
Babineau, who was listed among WBJ’s 2024 Power 100, was raising alarm over the difficulties facing small businesses in Worcester as far back as November 2023, when the brewery hosted a meet-up for other small business owners to discuss their struggles with higher costs and stingier customers.
“It feels like everyone is just heads down, trying to survive,” Babineau said at the meeting, “There are a lot of people I know that are in really bad shape.”
Redemption Rock is known for its donation to area nonprofits and collaborations with other local businesses, efforts which led to the business winning a WBJ Manufacturing Excellence Award in 2021.
In the past year, the business had become the brewer of the house beer for The Fix restaurants, hosted Beyond Wrestling matches, and launched brews in partnership with local businesses and organizations, including the Hanover Theatre Repertory and the Worcester Bravehearts baseball team.
Image | Courtesy of The Fix Burger Bar
Dana Porter, beverage director at Niche Hospitality Group, greets Jimmy, a cat that lives at Redemption Rock Brewing Co., during a tour regarding the partnership between the two businesses.
The brewery is one of five certified benefit corporations in Central Massachusetts and was the first craft brewery in Massachusetts to do so. With its closure, there will no longer be any certified B-Corps operating in Worcester, according to the website for the B Lab, the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit which certifies benefit corporations.
Redemption Rock brewed 790 barrels (24,490 gallons) of beer in 2023, according to data provided to the WBJ Research Department, making it the 13th largest craft brewery in Central Massachusetts.
With its closure, Redemption Rock will join a number of Central Massachusetts breweries to permanently shut their doors since 2019, including Milk Room Brewing in Rutland, River Styx Brewing in Fitchburg, Battle Road Brewing in Maynard, and 3Cross in Worcester.
Once a space of rapid growth, the craft beer industry has seen moves and mergers as breweries deal with changing consumer trends, with Exhibit 'A' Brewing Co. closing its Framingham taproom and brewery and moving to Western Massachusetts and Worcester-based Wormtown being acquired by the parent company of Framingham-based Jack’s Abby.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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