New owners win auction for long-standing central Ohio Brewery

For Austin Caulk and Taylor Scribner, so much came down to one day: March 25. That was when the foreclosure auction of Rockmill Brewery was held. And while the duo–who took over Rockmill from former owner Matthew Barbee in 2023–weren’t expecting much competition, countless hours and dollars spent were on the line.

And they won.

“If you’ve ever sat at the bar and grabbed a beer, chances are you’ve heard about the long process of owning Rockmill. Today, we are excited to share a monumental milestone with all of you,” a post to Rockmill’s social media accounts reads. “We won the auction!”

According to an interview with Caulk from earlier this month, well before the two took over from Barbee, the property was rezoned as a planned unit development, which means Rockmill must be part of 20 contiguous acres to be operated commercially.

As the property for sale on March 25 was only 11.6 acres, and Caulk and Scribner controlled enough of the surrounding land that no potential new owner would be able to control enough contiguous acreage to operate Rockmill as a brewery. This meant pair didn’t see themselves coming up against much competition.

Rockmill Brewery is open 4-9 p.m. Thursday, 12-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 12-8 p.m. Sunday.

“The support from the community has been overwhelming during this process. It really goes to show how special this property is. We’re just excited to have the most crucial piece in place and ready to get to work to bring this place back to life,” Caulk said.

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