Few people have been or will ever be as connected in the craft beer industry as Chris Black.
If you haven't met him or heard of him, then you surely caught wind that Downtown Denver had a little beer bar called Falling Rock Taphouse for 24 years.
In 1997 what we think of as the craft beer industry hadn't really begun yet. With only around 800 breweries in the US, opening a beer bar with 69 taps of what we call craft beer was an anomaly. And while it's hard to believe in 2023, opening a craft beer bar in Downtown Denver sounded like a risky and unproven idea.
But it's no exaggeration to say that Falling Rock and Chris Black were an integral part of crafting the shape of our industry. While he had a vibrant and loyal business year-round, Falling Rock was a mandatory stop for everyone visiting the Great American Beer Festival down the street from him every year. Unlike the average beer bar in your town, Falling Rock didn't ride the wave of craft beer, it was the moon that created the tides.
From humble beginnings in Houston to ascending to the top of the craft beer heap, he has seen and heard more about beer than J. Edgar Hoover did about our personal lives. His understanding of the business of craft beer is as wide as it is deep. And yet, in June of 2021, after steady declines and a grim forecast of the future, Chris, his brothers and their loyal fans and suppliers closed the taps on his iconic taphouse for the last time.
This is the story of Chris Black and the rise and fall of what we can only hope was his first craft beer bar - the Falling Rock Taphouse. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed spending a couple hours talking with one of the few people I'd call my craft beer hero.
And when you get a guy like Chris to share his time and his insights, you give him a microphone, sit back and interrupt as little as possible. And that's the treat you'll get to experience in the fourth segment. It runs a little longer than I normally do but I couldn't bear to cut any of his opinions and insights.
And now, Chris Black.
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