Put a brewery bee in Colorado Springs’ bonnet, the buzz may come back to haunt you – in the best of ways.

“I can’t tell you how many people, following us on Facebook all through the buildout, walking by with their dogs and their kids and peeking in, ‘When are you going to open? When you going to open?’” said Armillary Brewing Co. co-owner Kristin Lockhart. 

After more than a year transforming a former flooring shop into the Springs’ newest craft brewpub, Armillary’s reply arrived April 21. Without fanfare, and in kind of a whisper. 

“The kitchen wasn’t ready, but we were just, like, ‘We’ve got beer. Let’s go ahead and open,” said Lockhart, whose brewery offers a limited menu of pizzas and things that can be dipped in beer cheese. “Within an hour, the neighborhood was here.”

More than three weeks after that soft opening, Armillary is celebrating its official debut Sunday, at 4810 Old Farm Drive Suite 120.

A retired elementary school teacher, Kristin joined her husband — award-winning Springs brewer Jeff Lockhart — in the labor of love that began, for practical purposes, with the quest for a perfect place to plant the flag for their “little mom and pop brewery,” Kristin told The Gazette in September 2025, eight months after the couple signed a lease for the end unit in a shopping plaza at the intersection of Austin Bluffs Parkway and Old Farm Drive.

“We … walked in and went, ‘Hmm, this could work …’” she said. The fact that the neighborhood represented something of a “beer desert” – at least by Colorado Springs metrics – helped seal the deal.

Jeff brings decades of brewing experience to the operation, having helped launch both Ouray and Red Leg Brewing companies and teaming up with the Springs’ Dueces Wild, where his Knuckle Dragger Scotch Ale earned a Gold Medal at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival, among the nation’s most prestigious brewing honors. 

Sunday’s celebration at Armillary includes a new beer release, all-day games, prize giveaways and taps pouring an array of Lockhart originals as well as a porter brewed in collaboration with Dueces Wild.

The brewery is open from noon to 8 p.m. for the grand opening party. Visit Armillary Brewing Company on Facebook for more information.