Dry Dock Brewing Company

Dry Dock Brewing Company is a brewery located in southeast Aurora, Colorado.^[1] Since opening, Dry Dock has won awards from both the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival, winning Small Brewing Company of the Year in 2009 at the Great American Beer Festival.

History

Dry Dock Brewing Co. was Aurora, Colorado’s first when owners Kevin DeLange and Michelle Reding opened with a 7 BBL brewhouse in a 900-square-foot space next their original business The Brew Hut, a homebrew supply shop, in 2005. They named the brewery as a nod to Kevin’s love of nautical history.

Dry Dock expanded in 2009, and again in 2011. Now the brewery runs a 7 BBL brewhouse including a tasting room with 180 seats and 16 taps at its original location at 15120 E. Hampden Avenue which is called South Dock.

In 2013, Dry Dock nearly quadrupled its production numbers, jumping from 3,200 barrels in 2012 to 12,000 barrels in one year. This increase came with the purchase of a 30,000-square-foot production facility, North Dock, at 2801 Tower Road. At North Dock, Dry Dock has the capacity to expand to brew more than 30,000 barrels a year, and cans its flagship line of beers, including the Apricot Blonde, Amber Ale, Sour Apricot Blonde, Hop Abomination, Dry Dock IPA, and Wheat Beer.

In September 2014, Dry Dock opened the Canoe Room, a four-tap tasting room inside of its North Dock facility. The tasting room, which in addition to draft beer, serves Dry Dock’s canned offerings. The room was once the storage area for The Boy Scouts of America Aurora chapter’s canoes and the area gained the nickname “Canoe Room,” which stuck. Visit www.drydockbrewing.com/north-dock for hours of operation.

Dry Dock established itself early on by word-of-mouth, and put itself on the map when it won a gold 2006 World Beer Cup (only 6 months after the tiny brewery opened) for its HMS Victory ESB (now Dry Dock’s Amber Ale). Dry Dock has since been the recipient of 24 GABF® medals, the prestigious Brewers Association’s Small Brewery of the Year award, and seven World Beer Cup® awards.^[2]

Beers

Bottled Beers

Farmhouse Ale Saison

After purchasing a 6-head bottler, Dry Dock began bottling their Seven Seas Double IPA for release in the greater Denver area. Since then, Dry Dok has bottled a wide variety of different beers to date, most notably, Bligh's Barleywine (an English Style Barleywine) and their annual barrel-aged Signature Series releases.

Pumpkin Ale Firkin

Firkin Friday

Each and every Friday, Dry Dock taps a special one-off firkin, a cask-conditioned variation of their available beers. Occasionally, the beers are conditioned with odd items such as wasabi and rice.^[4]

In 2010, Dry Dock served their Kölsch from a watermelon and their Half Moon Pumpkin Ale through a locally-grown 208 lb pumpkin.

Awards

Dry Dock's notoriety began in 2006 after one year in operation, won gold at the World Beer Cup for the H.M.S. Victory ESB.^[5][6] In 2008, Dry Dock won a Bronze for the HMS Bounty Old Ale at the World Beer Cup,^[7] following up with a Silver medal for the S.S. Minnow Mild ale at the Great American Beer Festival.^[8] For 2009 at the Great American Beer Festival, Dry Dock won a Gold medal for their Bismarck Alt and Silver medals for their Reines Märzen and U-Boat Hefeweizen, landing them Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year for 2009.^[9][10] At the 2010 World Beer Cup, Dry Dock walked away with a Silver medal for their 3 Heavy Wee Heavy Scottish Ale,^[11] along with 4 Silver medals at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival for their Docktoberfest Märzen, U-Boat Hefeweizen, Bismarck Alt and Whale Tail Wit.^[12]

References