After the doors closed on Monday, Oct. 14, the owners at WYOld West Brewing Company shuttered the Cody Taproom after six years in business.

The full-feature bar and restaurant, with the only tap wall for self service in a city famous for its craft beer scene, was located at 1022 13th St., just off Sheridan Avenue. It’s location was part of the reason the company’s second bar and restaurant closed, said co-owner and head brewer Steve Samuelson.

“It’s kind of been tucked away there, and it’s always been kind of a tough spot for business,” he said Monday. “Still to this day, people didn’t even know it was there.”

Another issue was the availability of employees in the area, Samuelson said. They were able to hire servers and kitchen staff from nearby towns, but with some making the 30-minute drive in from Meeteetse, bad winter weather would hamper employees being able to make it to work.

“After Covid, it was a constant fight to get staff,” he said. “We had good people there, but finding the right people that would stick around and be loyal to the business was really tough. There’s a really small pool [of employees]. I think it’s a common problem in Cody.”

The issue resulted in the taproom being open inconsistently as the business had to close its doors because of one or two illnesses, a child’s illness or bad weather. Customers didn’t know if the business was open or closed, he said.

“We had such a skeleton crew there that one or two people could make or break the whole business,” he said.

The brewery tried adding extra signage, but the huge losses from being closed on strategic days were too much to overcome.

The company was listed for sale in August. Both locations are for sale separately after the majority owners have decided to divest from the company, reportedly due to the desire to retire. The Taproom business is currently for sale by Whitlock Development for $99,000 while the Powell location is for sale for just shy of $1 million and includes the building on North Bent Street in the heart of Powell’s main business district.

There is some recent good news for the company. The Powell location was able to bring in the best employees from the Cody location, which, Samuelson said, is making service in Powell better and there is a new director of operations, Larry Hillers, who relocated from Nebraska to lead the company. He is skilled in catering, budgeting, food and beverage, front office, and hospitality and has a bachelor’s degree in business.

There is also a new menu and the brewery staff just returned from their first trip to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver where the four top beers produced in Powell were very well received. Mule Deer German Pilsner made it to the second round of the competition featuring 1,700 brews in the style.

The nation’s largest professional beer competition awarded 326 medals to 273 breweries and cideries during the three-day annual festival in Denver attended by more than 40,000 thirsty fans. Samuelson was very encouraged by their success in their first attempt, saying he was able to network and learn more about the competition for the next attempt.