Brewery in Ankeny closes, citing labor shortages and rising costs

Mistress Brewing Co. Taproom, the Ankeny brewery, closes its doors at the end of business on Oct. 31.

The brewery from co-owners Jeff Heng and Shawn McNeeley opened in 2018 inside a former Dahl’s Foods grocery store at 1802 N. Ankeny Blvd.

“Unfortunately, COVID-19 was something we never really recovered from. Exploding labor and raw material costs, labor shortages and huge price increases from our suppliers have just been too much for us to overcome,” McNeeley wrote on Facebook.

“Jeff and I have had an amazing adventure, met incredible people and had memories that will last our lifetime,” he said.

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In 2019, the brewery won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival for its Pumpkin Rumble.

The 9,000-square-foot beer hall sat 450 people with pints of flagship ales and seasonal beers on the 24 taps. McNeeley and Heng launched Mistress in 2016 as a bottle-only brewery, delivering 22-ounce bombers to the local liquor store, the Des Moines Register reported in 2018, before opening their brick-and-mortar.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ankeny's Mistress Brewing Co. Taproom closes after 4 years in business