09/15/2026
This week’s schedule announcement is a little bittersweet.
If you’ve been in the taproom lately, you may have noticed someone missing behind the bar. After being part of Barker since the very beginning, Michael is moving on to a new chapter.
Michael and his wife, Allison, have made the decision to move closer to family. We completely understand, but selfishly, we’re pretty damn sad to see him go.
For the last 3½ years, Michael has been a huge part of Barker & helped shape our culture. You’ve seen him behind the bar, where he knows some of you well enough that you don’t even bother looking at the beer menu anymore. You just tell Michael to pick something. And, he rarely misses.
Over the last year, a lot of his work happened behind the scenes. He took over maintaining our beer lines and became a huge help in the brewery, brewing, cleaning, kegging, canning, and doing all the "glamorous" jobs that actually keep this place running. Employees like Michael are incredibly hard to come by.
Now, if you know Michael, you know he hates being the center of attention. His preferred exit strategy was a good old-fashioned Irish Goodbye. No announcement. No farewell party. Just disappear and let everyone eventually figure out he moved away.
So naturally, we ruined that plan. On his last day, we brewed one final beer together, a Dry Irish Stout appropriately named: MICHAEL’S IRISH GOODBYE
And because he’s meant way too much to Barker to actually let him get away with one, Michael is coming back behind the bar one final time this Friday.
We’ll release Michael’s Irish Goodbye, and you’ll have one last chance to grab a beer from him, give him some s**t, and wish Michael and Allison the best on their next chapter.
And because Michael would prefer literally anything over ALL the attention being on him, we found him some backup.
Friday is also Jenna’s 29th birthday! Our two favorite redheads will be behind the bar together for one last shift. Join us Friday for Michael’s Farewell, Michael’s Irish Goodbye Beer Release, and Jenna’s 29th Birthday.
Michael, we’re going to miss the hell out of you. Thank you for everything.
Now, check out everything else we’ve got going on at Barker this week! 👇
