Dry Dock Brewing quadruples production in 2013, more equipment on the way

Aurora, Colo.’s Dry Dock Brewing nearly quadrupled its production numbers in 2013, jumping to 12,000 barrels from 3,273 barrels in 2012. This increase comes with Dry Dock’s new 30,000-square-foot production facility.

At their new production facility, Dry Dock has the space to brew 110,000 barrels a year. It currently has six 80-bbl fermenters and two 80-bbl bright tanks and 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 its production facility. 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, Colo.’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.