Some full-time Nocterra Brewing Co. employees lost dental and vision coverage before the brewery announced it was closing. Workers at the Scioto Audubon location got less than a day's notice.

An employee at the Audubon location told 614Now that staff there knew by Saturday midday that the shift would be their last. The formal closure email from co-owner Bryan Duncan did not arrive until 12:10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31.

"Over the previous weekend, full time employees saw their dental and vision healthcare no longer active because, presumably, missed payments," the employee told 614Now.

The healthcare lapse is a new detail in the fallout from Nocterra's abrupt closure of both its Powell taproom at 41 Depot St. and its Columbus location at 516 Maier Place. As we reported Aug. 31, the brewery halted operations at both sites that day after seven years in Powell.

In the email obtained by 614Now, Duncan wrote that the company had "exhausted every resource, connection, ability, and dollar …" to keep operating. He described the shutdown as a hiatus while the company searches for a path forward.

The closure also caught building owner Dan McClurg off guard. McClurg, who owns the 41 Depot St. property, told Delaware Source on Aug. 31 that he had no advance warning.

A "for lease" sign went up on the building by that Monday morning. McClurg said he planned to lease the space to a "good restaurant" or a "well-established brewery, not a start-up."

Owners Bryan Duncan, Lori Duncan and Bruce Vivian posted a statement to Facebook on Aug. 31 denying rumors linking the closure to Wolf's Ridge Brewing Co. and saying they planned to regroup and reopen as a better version of the brewery, according to Fox 28.

Nocterra received a $23,855 business retention and expansion grant from the Powell Development Corporation in 2025 to fund a delivery vehicle, according to Delaware Source. No public record in available reporting confirms whether the city will seek to recover that money.

The brewery opened its Powell location in 2019 and was one of two breweries in the city. Ill Mannered Brewing Company remains open. No timeline for a potential Nocterra reopening has been announced.