K2 Brothers Brewing has closed its massive facility at the former Freewill Elementary in Walworth – 15 months after opening its doors.
The closure was first announced in an email to the brewery’s Mug Club members Sunday night.
The Freewill Elementary project was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in Rochester craft beer. K2 Brothers, a popular brewery based in Penfield, had sought to turn the entire elementary school into a craft beer destination, as well as build out one of the largest production breweries in the region.
The brewery expanded rapidly in the past couple of years -- also opening a tap room in Buffalo and buying the Young Lion brand after that Canandaigua brewery closed. Now saddled with legal and financial challenges, the Freewill Elementary location became untenable.
The weekend email stated that March 23 would be the last day of operation in Walworth. The Buffalo tap room closed last April. The brewery plans to continue operating at its original location on Empire Boulevard.
“This decision is not one that was made hastily and sadly the decision was ultimately forced by the bank due to rising ingredient and materials costs, lower than expected sales and a series of unexpected and unfortunate events,” the e-mail states. “Unfortunately, the numbers just didn't work for the bottom line. We did not anticipate this transpiring, and once we were notified by the bank took every step to prevent it. It just wasn't enough in the bank's eyes.”
K2 Brothers co-owner Kyle Kennedy did not return a request for comment.
The brewery purchased the school in May 2023 for $1.45 million, according to Wayne County property records. At the time, co-owners Brad and Kyle Kennedy planned to occupy all 72,000 square feet of the building. Ideas on the table ranged from an AirBnB and private event spaces to laser tag and go karts. The 45 acres surrounding the property were planned to be used for outdoor concerts and other projects.
Most of those projects never got off the ground, and the majority of the building’s space has gone unused since the brewery’s opening in January 2024. The brewery did convert the school’s cafeteria into a large taproom, and the gymnasium into a brewery, which more than tripled K2’s production capacity.
The brewery also has faced a number of legal challenges in the past year. Earlier this month, K2 Brothers was ordered to pay $43,370 to Palmer’s Food Services for goods that Palmer had provided to both the Empire Boulevard and Walworth locations.
In another lawsuit, the brewery is accused of failing to pay Servpro $299,970 for cleaning and restoration services at Freewill Elementary. That case is ongoing.
In February, the brewery’s Empire Boulevard location was hit with a state tax warrant amounting to $115,160.
The brewery first opened in 2017 on Empire Boulevard in Penfield, amid a boom in craft breweries around the Rochester area. It quickly became a hot destination, fueled by an eclectic offering of sour ales and IPAs.
In the email to Mug Club members, the brewery said it would be refocusing its resources on making the Empire Boulevard location the best it can be and moving some staff from the Freewill location to Penfield.
“This is absolutely not what anyone wanted to happen, but if there is a silver lining to all of it, we are going to be 100% focused on making Empire the absolute best version of itself possible! All of our energy and resources will be going into the original K2 location,” the email reads.
