Northside Lexington craft brewery is closing. Will it come back?

A Northside Lexington brewery is closing its doors but possibly only temporarily.

Friday Dec. 22 is your last chance to share a beer at Rock House Brewing at 119 Luigart Court just off North Limestone near Loudon Avenue at least for now.

But if a potential sale is finalized it could come back soon.

The current owners announced in November that the craft brewery was for sale.

Now it appears it has been sold: It’s under contract and the sale expected to close within the next month, according to the owners.

The buyers declined to comment.

“We’re selling to a group and I can’t speak for them but it appears they will keep the business as Rock House and it will continue to be a brewery,” said Billy Hacker, one of three current owners.

Hacker said that he, along with homebrewer Kevin Richey and Danny Hadded “have been doing this for seven years, since 2016, and our lives have all gone in different directions. We’re ready to move on and we feel like the new ownership group will bring new life to it and things that we could not offer at this point, financially.”

Rock House started in 2016 when Richey approached Haddad and Hacker about starting a local brewery.

“At that time there were only four in town, Country Boy, Blue Stallion, Lexington Brewing, and West Sixth,” he said.

They opened Rock House in a pre-Prohibition-era malt mill on the site of a former steam hemp mill and quarry office.

The brewery has a small taproom and spacious outdoor patio, where Rock House hosted live music, food trucks and other events such as monthly makers’ markets in warm weather.

Janet Patton

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-379-5233

Janet Patton covers restaurants, bars, food and bourbon for the Herald-Leader. She is an award-winning business reporter who also has covered agriculture, gambling, horses and hemp. Support my work with a digital subscription