Tivoli brewed for years in Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus. (BusinessDen file)
The brewery on the Auraria campus quietly stopped production earlier this year.
Tivoli Brewing Co. stopped producing beer in its space at 900 Auraria Parkway in September, according to Rebecca Ruiz, marketing director for the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC), which manages the campus west of downtown Denver.
Tivoli’s taproom on the campus remains open.
Ruiz said the brewery needed “easy access to grain and cold storage” and shifted operations to La Junta, in southeast Colorado. She said Tivoli’s lease on the Auraria campus ends December 2024.
AHEC, which owns the property, is looking for a new tenant for the 30-barrel facility.
Ari Opsahl
Tivoli CEO Ari Opshal confirmed the situation but declined to answer questions.
“We outgrew the facility and unfortunately could not come to a mutually beneficial agreement with Auraria to extend our lease and continue operating downtown,” Opshal said in a text message.
Tivoli, considered one of Colorado’s oldest breweries, opened in 1859 on what would become the Auraria campus, and closed in 1969. The property became the Tivoli Student Union in 1994 after students voted for AHEC to buy it and convert it for student use.
Corey and Debbie Marshall revived Tivoli Brewing in 2012. The founders decided to move operations back to the Auraria Campus in 2014, and its beer was made on the campus until the recent change.
Corey Marshall stepped down as president in 2018 and brought on a group of about 80 investors to help grow the brewery, BusinessDen reported. The majority stakeholder of that group is Salomon Juan Marcos Villarreal, who’s son had a brief stint as Tivoli CEO before Opshal took over in 2021.
When it moved back to Auraria, The Denver Post reported that students in Metro State University’s Brewery Operations Program would get hands-on experience with Tivoli on campus.
Ruiz said that “decreased” in recent years as Tivoli’s management went through changes. Andrew Seidenstat, beverage and lab coordinator for Metro State’s hospitality program, who graduated from the university’s brewery program this past spring, said he didn’t get hands-on experience in the brewery during his two years.
“It was set up to be that way at the beginning but during my time in the program, we barely even got to step foot in the brewery,” Seidenstat said.
Tivoli brewed for years in Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus. (BusinessDen file)
The brewery on the Auraria campus quietly stopped production earlier this year.
Tivoli Brewing Co. stopped producing beer in its space at 900 Auraria Parkway in September, according to Rebecca Ruiz, marketing director for the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC), which manages the campus west of downtown Denver.
Tivoli’s taproom on the campus remains open.
Ruiz said the brewery needed “easy access to grain and cold storage” and shifted operations to La Junta, in southeast Colorado. She said Tivoli’s lease on the Auraria campus ends December 2024.
AHEC, which owns the property, is looking for a new tenant for the 30-barrel facility.
Ari Opsahl
Tivoli CEO Ari Opshal confirmed the situation but declined to answer questions.
“We outgrew the facility and unfortunately could not come to a mutually beneficial agreement with Auraria to extend our lease and continue operating downtown,” Opshal said in a text message.
Tivoli, considered one of Colorado’s oldest breweries, opened in 1859 on what would become the Auraria campus, and closed in 1969. The property became the Tivoli Student Union in 1994 after students voted for AHEC to buy it and convert it for student use.
Corey and Debbie Marshall revived Tivoli Brewing in 2012. The founders decided to move operations back to the Auraria Campus in 2014, and its beer was made on the campus until the recent change.
Corey Marshall stepped down as president in 2018 and brought on a group of about 80 investors to help grow the brewery, BusinessDen reported. The majority stakeholder of that group is Salomon Juan Marcos Villarreal, who’s son had a brief stint as Tivoli CEO before Opshal took over in 2021.
When it moved back to Auraria, The Denver Post reported that students in Metro State University’s Brewery Operations Program would get hands-on experience with Tivoli on campus.
Ruiz said that “decreased” in recent years as Tivoli’s management went through changes. Andrew Seidenstat, beverage and lab coordinator for Metro State’s hospitality program, who graduated from the university’s brewery program this past spring, said he didn’t get hands-on experience in the brewery during his two years.
“It was set up to be that way at the beginning but during my time in the program, we barely even got to step foot in the brewery,” Seidenstat said.
