Rockmill Brewery's 12-acre Lancaster property for sale in foreclosure auction

LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- A central Ohio brewery that was on the market for more than $6 million has failed to find a buyer, and is now facing foreclosure with an auction underway.

Rockmill Brewery at 5705 Lithopolis Road NW in Lancaster is currently up for auction through March 25 with a minimum asking price of $2.4 million, according to the 12-acre property's listing on Auction Ohio's site. The brewery, which the Fairfield County Common Pleas Court appraised for $3.6 million, is open during the ongoing auction.

The foreclosure includes the sale of two separate sites on Rockmill's property, but does not feature the brewery's furniture, fixtures or equipment. The first site makes up the brewery's main operations with five buildings totaling more than 9,000 square feet home to a taproom, an event space, a chapel, a pond and picnic grounds.

The second site is a 5,080-square-foot, two-story home built in 1900 and remodeled in 1981, the residence of the brewery's current operators, Austin Caulk and Taylor Scribner. The home includes three bedrooms, four full bathrooms, three half bathrooms, three fireplaces and a three-car detached garage.

Rockmill's foreclosure comes after founder Matthew Barbee attempted to sell the brewery for $6.75 million in 2022, though a deal was never reached. Barbee, who now lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, bestowed the brewery's day-to-day operations to Caulk and Scribner last year.

Barbee launched the brewery in 2010 on his mother's more than 23-acre farm and expanded in 2016 with the opening of Rockmill Tavern in Columbus' Brewery District. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic fizzled Barbee's momentum, the tavern closed in 2022 and the Lancaster brewery's patrons dwindled.

Caulk and Scribner were hiking last year in Lancaster when the couple stopped at Rockmill for a beer. Columbus Monthly reported the pair took a walk to the property's chapel where Caulk proposed to Scribner, leading them to inquire with Barbee about getting married at the site.

Caulk and Scribner soon became interested in also purchasing Rockmill from Barbee, though a sale has yet to go through. Still, the couple is aiming to revive the brewery and told Columbus Business First they'll be bidding on the property during the foreclosure auction.

Rockmill is one of several central Ohio breweries facing turmoil since the pandemic, including 1487 Brewery that permanently closed in February after its former chief operating officer pleaded guilty to stealing more than $200,000 from the company. Smokehouse Brewing Company in Grandview Heights closed in January after 25 years of business.