Wooden Robot Set To Reopen Following Deadly Fall Of Brewery’s Co-Founder

Jack Hale, Caryn Little, Richard Groves,

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Both Wooden Robot taprooms will reopen this week following the death of one of the brewery’s founders, Dan Wade.

The South End location will reopen on Tuesday, February 27th and the NoDa location will reopen on Thursday, February 29th.

Read below for more details on the tragic death and the legacy Wade leaves behind.

Original Story (Posted: Feb. 20, 2024):

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Wooden Robot Brewery has confirmed on social media that one of the brewery’s founders, Dan Wade, lost his life in an accident at their South End taproom.  Wooden Robot had posted earlier Tuesday afternoon saying they will be closing both of their taprooms until further notice due to unforeseen circumstances. WCCB confirmed it was due to a deadly fall.

The statement, below, is signed off by Josh Patton, co-founder and CEO of Wooden Robot. Dan, who founded the brewery with Josh, was the brewery’s Director of Operations.

It is with an extremely sad and heavy heart that we share this news. Due to an accident that occurred today, we lost one of our founders, co-owners, and friend, Dan.

We ask that you respect the privacy of his loved ones in this incredibly difficult time. We are all still in shock and need time to process everything, but we will do our best to keep everyone in the loop for when we open up our taprooms again.

Your thoughts and prayers for Dan’s family, his wife, and his son are much appreciated at this time.

– Josh

(Wooden Robot Brewery / Instagram)

MEDIC confirmed one person was pronounced dead shortly before 2pm at the South End location. They were dispatched to the address for a fall.

The N.C. Department of Labor sent the following statement to WCCB:

“The N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Division was notified by CMPD this afternoon of an accident at that location. A compliance officer has been assigned to begin investigating the report.”

Both brewery locations in South End and NoDa will remain closed until further notice.