So Many Roads Brewery is closed permanently following the arrest of co-founder Jay Bianchi on suspicion of sexual assault, including an allegation of assault at the brewery earlier this month.
The bar, currently owned by former Bianchi business partner Tyler Bishop, who confirmed the closure Monday, has been the site of police stings and assault allegations since shortly after it opened in November 2020. The bar described itself as a 7,500-square-foot music venue, Grateful Dead memorabilia museum, arcade and brewery wrapped into one.
The addresses connected to Bianchi’s arrest on allegations from 2020 and 2024 match the locations of the Grateful Dead-themed bars owned by Bianchi and Bishop: Sancho’s Broken Arrow, at 741 E. Colfax Ave., as well as So Many Roads Brewery, at 918 W. First Ave., both in Denver.
The decision to shut down So Many Roads, which on Monday had removed all concert dates from its website, comes after a series of closures and settlements meant to keep it in business amid police stings for underage alcohol and cocaine sales.
So Many Roads had most recently planned to close for good in December, following a brief shutdown mandated by the Department of Excise and Licenses. That stemmed from the bar going awry of its settlements with the city agency that controls its liquor license. Instead, Bianchi continued to promote concerts at the bar on his Facebook page up until his arrest two weeks ago, despite saying he had stepped away from day-to-day operations there.
The bar also had been on probation for a year starting in December 2022, following a November 2022 closure in the wake of a Denver police sting that found underage alcohol sales and cocaine dealing at the bar — and at now-closed Grateful Dead-themed bar Sancho’s Broken Arrow. Sancho’s was formerly co-owned by Bianchi and Bishop, then transferred solely to Bishop before it closed permanently in 2022.
Bishop on Monday confirmed So Many Roads’ closure to The Denver Post, but was not able to immediately respond to other questions.
Bishop on April 19 appeared ready to push past the bar’s troubled reputation as he distanced it from Bianchi in a statement posted to Facebook. It read, in part, that Bianchi’s “ownership dissolved some time ago, and his involvement in our cherished venue is now unequivocally terminated.”
“The allegations against Mr. Bianchi are just that, allegations, and these allegations are personal to Mr. Bianchi and are in no way related to So Many Roads,” the bar posted. “Regardless of the outcome of Jay’s legal proceedings, he will no longer be associated with or welcome within our beloved space.”
So Many Roads’ Facebook account quoted the Grateful Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” in its Saturday closure announcement, writing: ” ‘No place left to go, ain’t that a shame?’ Fare you well, fare you well. … I love you more than words can tell. … May you find a peaceful place to call home, a place to dance and gather, and a place full of love. Please remember the beautiful nights at Roads.”
More than a dozen women interviewed by The Post over the past three years alleged they were the victims of druggings there and at Sancho’s. Musicians, including members of the Colorado Musicians Union, in the past have also alleged assault, lack of payment and other infractions against Bianchi at his various bars, including the since-closed Be on Key Psychedelic Ripple.
Bianchi’s 2020 sexual assault suspicions are classified separately by the Denver Police Department as “victim helpless,” “overcome will” and “victim incapable,” while the 2024 case is labeled “victim helpless,” “no consent” and “victim incapable.”
During the week of April 7, an address matching So Many Roads Brewery was listed as the site of an alleged sexual assault from an unnamed female customer. Denver police then arrested co-founder Bianchi on suspicion of sexual assault in that and two other cases. The latter were alleged against Bianchi after a Halloween party at So Many Roads and Sancho’s in 2020.
So Many Roads also had been the site of picketing from the Colorado Musicians Union, following the allegations against Bianchi. Bianchi has repeatedly denied them in interviews with The Post.
The Denver Police Department has declined to release Bianchi’s arrest affidavit, citing state laws that protect sexual assault victims, and did not provide further detail about the allegations. The affidavit was not available from the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
Denver police have declined to say what changed this month to lead to Bianchi’s arrest on suspicion of the 2020 assaults, responding only that “investigators developed enough information to request an arrest warrant in April of 2024, which then led to his arrest.”
