Monks owner to sell the downtown Sioux Falls bar after coronavirus caused closure

Monks House of Ale Repute could soon be headed for new ownership.

Jerry Hauck’s bar in downtown Sioux Falls’ East Bank area was one of the first in South Dakota to celebrate craft beer.

The 76-year-old Aberdeen native feels its time to move on after making every effort to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and the financial devastation it caused bars and restaurants across the city.

Hauck said he’s found a potential buyer with experience in serving up South Dakota craft beer, though the sale has yet to be finalized.

“I didn’t come to this conclusion very readily,” Hauck said Tuesday. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with anything to keep it from closing. Finally I just realized not only was it going to be difficult, my heart wasn’t in it anymore.”

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Monks closed in March after Sioux Falls city officials enacted a state of emergency and the pandemic prompted the beverage and food service industry to cut staff and limit operations.

Hauck was ahead of his time when he opened Monks in 2007.

He had lived in Oregon and Colorado and felt his home state was ready for the tasty brews he drank in those states--beers made by smaller brewing operations that focused on taste and quality instead of mass production.

Hauck, a maker of freeform organic furniture, had been using the building at 420 E. Eighth Street as a gallery for his work. He decided to transform the space into a bar and opened with 12 taps, six of which featured Belgian imports.

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“By the end of the first year I felt pretty confident,” Hauck said. “We were doing well and we kept growing.”

The COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, coming on the heels of Monks’ winter Beervana event, which had been more successful than previous years, Hauck said.

“The thing I’ll miss is the people I’ve met there and the friends I’ve established there,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I can’t go down there.”