AURORA, CO — Last year, Aurora’s Dry Dock Brewing nearly quadrupled its production numbers, jumping from 3,273 barrels in 2012 to 12,000 barrels in 2013. This increase comes with Dry Dock’s new 30,000-square-foot production facility, North Dock, at 2801 Tower Road.
At North Dock, Dry Dock has the space to brew 110,000 barrels a year. It currently has six 80-barrel fermenters and two 80-barrel bright tanks; and it continues to grow. There are another three 120-barrel fermenters and another 120-barrel bright tank on the way.
Also last year, Dry Dock began canning its beers at North Dock. In 2013, the company produced more than 2 million cans of Amber Ale, Hop Abomination, Hefeweizen, and Apricot Blonde.
Dry Dock Brewing, named for co-owner Kevin DeLange’s love of nautical history and its location in landlocked Colorado, is Aurora, Colorado’s first microbrewery, founded in 2005. DeLange and Michelle Reding first opened the homebrew supply shop, The Brew Hut, next door and took on brewing as a side project in a tiny, 800-square foot brewery with only 25 seats. What began as a speakeasy has become one of Colorado’s largest craft breweries.
Dry Dock took home five medals from the Great American Beer Festival in 2013. In total, Dry Dock has been the recipient of 18 GABF medals, the prestigious Brewers Association’s Small Brewery of the Year award, and four World Beer Cups.