Valerie's Brewhouse (Colorado Cork & Keg) - Bar Rescue Update

In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Castle Rock, Colorado to rescue Colorado Cork & Keg.  Colorado Cork & Keg is owned by Ed and Valerie Komperda and they purchased the bar in 2021 despite not having restaurant experience.  They are now $30,000 in debt and the bar is losing $4,000 a month.  If things do not change, they could be closed within three months, so they have reached out to Bar Rescue for help.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Colorado Cork & Keg to Valerie's Brewhouse and the bar has kept the name. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Valerie's Brewhouse since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):

Positive Reviews:

• "This is a real nice bar, though they get too busy for the number of staff they have on hand, expect to wait 20 mins for a drink. The fact it's a safe place for people for alternate lifestyles is a big plus and they get a lot of kudos for that"
• "This Brewhouse was a ton of fun. Great atmosphere and games. I was impressed by the service... I will definitely go back…"
• "I "LOVE" this bar. The atmosphere since the revamp has turned this place around. The staff are super friendly, the owners are gold stars in my opinion. Love the karaoke Friday and Sunday nights. Parking is a great asset to this place. They have poker and pool leagues, craft beers, yummy food. I have nothing bad to say about the place. If I could hangout there every day, I would!"
• "Went in 9pm Sunday. There were only a few people. The staff was friendly. We went to shoot pool, and both tables were in excellent quality and free to use. We enjoyed the competitive patrons and playful banter. They also mentioned that there are pool leagues, so I plan to try that out, too. Definitely will return."
• "Cool, clean, great staff! Love Valerie the owner!"
• "Whitney and val are the best ppl out there! They always help and are so kind! The bar is nice too!"
• "The owners are amazing! Love the atmosphere here! It's the only place I go to in town!"
• "Great food, great beer selection, friendly service. There was live music when I was there, and it was terrific."
• "Took my daughter there to celebrate her 21st birthday and we had a blast!! The owners were there and made us feel welcome. Great, fun, local atmosphere. Definitely going back!!"
• "This place has a total new vibe. Really awesome staff and specials."

Negative Reviews:

• "I walked in and the place had a fowl Oder like the exhaust hood wasn’t working."
• "Food was awful and over priced! Service was horrendous, took over an hour to get my food and it was served cold. Wanted to enjoy a couple beers but couldn’t get any service. I won’t be back!"
• "Recently remodeled, nice job, wonderful staff. Unfortunately the old fryer grease smell the minute you walk in takes away from the newness..., like the former establishment it just lingers and isn't a great impression."

*Reviews from Google

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for Colorado Cork & Keg happened in May 2022.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Bar Rescue YouTube page
• Here is the Valerie's Brewhouse website and Facebook page.  The old Colorado Cork & Keg Facebook page just shares posts from Valerie's Brewhouse.
• Valerie's Brewhouse has karaoke four days a week and free pool and shuffleboard every day.
• Here are the Facebook pages of Ed (owner), Valerie (owner)
• There was a Facebook post talking about the makeover of the bar that had over 125 comments.  People are wondering why it is called a "Brewhouse" when they don't make beer.  Ed chimed in saying, "Just read through these comments fully. So many comments made when these individuals do not know the story, have ever been here to visit, etc. Come in by, check us out, talk to me or Valerie. Then you will get the real background, and be able to make judgement yourself. We have had pretty darn good reviews recently and rank pretty high in regard to bars in Castle Rock. We have had many new people tell us this is there new go to bar after visiting. We are proud of this place. Is the location the greatest in Castle Rock...no, but it is castle Rock( which really doesn't have a bad area), it is safe, and provides plenty of parking. If to you this is ghetto AF then you truly have not seen a true ghetto and are quite privileged.  Bar Rescue is a reality tv show, so not all is 100 percent accurate. Would I do this again.....most definitely. They did a lot of good things to add character to the bar. It will be airing in February or March of 2023. Come in with an open mind and you may find it your favorite place to hangout in CR. Just don't knock it until you have visited."
• Here are the reviews for Valerie's Brewhouse from Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google.
• The bar takes the time to respond to the reviews on Google.
• They responded to the negative review about the smell saying they are unable to install an exhaust hood because they don't own the building and cannot make structural changes.

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Colorado Cork & Keg to Valerie's Brewhouse and the bar has kept the name.  The reviews for Valerie's Brewhouse are mostly positive with customers loving the atmosphere, staff, owners and specials. There were a couple comments about the food smell in the bar, but it seems they are unable to install an exhaust hood.  The owner Ed talked about being on Bar Rescue and said that he would definitely do it again, so he seems happy with the makeover. 

*To see how all of the bars from Bar Rescue are doing, go to the Bar Rescue Updates page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter to stay up to date with all things involving Bar Rescue.