Ursula Brewery(2015-2024)
Ursula Brewery quietly opened its doors in Aurora, Colorado, in December 2015, but its roots run straight back to one of the state’s most legendary (and long-gone) cult breweries: Phantom Canyon Brewing in Colorado Springs.
Co-founders Ben Davis and Mike Van Ness both cut their teeth at Phantom Canyon in the late ’90s and early 2000s, where they brewed under the late Steve Gonzalez—Colorado’s original “godfather of barrel-aged beers.” When Phantom Canyon closed its original brewhouse in 2012, Ben and Mike carried that old-school, no-shortcuts philosophy with them. After years of homebrewing together and plotting over pints, they launched Ursula in a low-key industrial strip on the edge of Aurora, just minutes from Denver International Airport.
Named after Ben’s grandmother Ursula (a tough-as-nails German immigrant who loved her lager), the brewery’s identity has always been “refined classics with a Colorado twist.” From day one, Ursula specialized in crisp, clean lagers (a rarity in IPA-crazed Colorado at the time) alongside English-style bitters, German altbiers, and the occasional big barrel-aged stouts. Their flagship Frauline Ursula German Pilsner became an instant local favorite for its snappy noble-hop bite and bone-dry finish, while Phantasmagoria (a rotating series of barrel-aged imperial stouts and barleywines) paid direct homage to their Phantom Canyon’s iconic old program.
By 2018, Ursula had outgrown its original 7-bbl system and expanded into the space next door, adding a 15-bbl brewhouse and a cozy 70-seat taproom with garage doors and a dog-friendly patio. That same year they took home gold at the Great American Beer Festival for their Dunkelweizen, cementing their rep as one of Colorado’s most underrated lager houses.
Through the 2020s, Ursula stayed fiercely independent while the rest of the state exploded with hazy IPAs and pastry stouts. They kept quietly cranking out perfect Kölsch, Helles, Märzen, and the occasional dry-hopped lager, earning a cult following among Denver-area beer nerds who wanted something crushable that still tasted like beer. In 2023, they launched limited can distribution of Fraulein Ursula and their Black Forest Schwarzbier, finally giving shelf space to Colorado lagers that could hang with the big boys.
Closing of Ursula Brewery
The Denver Post reported that Ursula Brewery in Aurora, near Anschutz Medical and Children’s Hospital, had its last day on December 22, 2023. It sounds like the saddest Christmas party, to me.