Dry Dock Brewing, 10th Anniversary by Morgan Forsyth, Colorado Craft Beer Promoter
A lot of great beers can happen in a decade – just ask the brewers at Dry Dock Brewing in Aurora, Colorado. The brewery started in the back of a homebrew shop, The Brew Hut, and has grown into an empire. With their official 10 year birthday being on October 13, 2015, Dry Dock is celebrating by throwing an anniversary party of epic proportions. On Saturday, October 24, Dry Dock will be pouring over 30 different beers, ranging from some barrel-aged vintage selections to a solid sour line-up, with some other little treats they thought would be up to par for the celebration. And of course, like any great anniversary celebration, head brewer Tim Evon made an anniversary beer to sum up a decade of excellence. His chosen style was a Belgian Quad, otherwise known as a Belgian Dark Strong.
Tim created this 10% Belgian Quad because he wanted a beer that was “a little more akin to some of the less common big Belgian beers, something that had the rustic quality reminiscent of the first time I drank a Westy 12 with a balanced, fruity ester profile and drier than most so as not to come off cloying on the palate”. They also wanted to create a beer perfect for putting away in a dark cellar for years to come, so they could keep coming back to it to taste the natural changes of the barrels. Quads tend to age beautifully going from bright grape, cherry, fig, apple, pear, and caramel candy in the first year to dried fruit, deep caramel, and tobacco by year five if kept within an acceptable cellar temperature range.
For the fruition, the brewers created a recipe that did not go too dark on the roast and crystal additions in order to promote brighter fruit characteristics. They used an Amber Belgian Candi Sugar after high krausen, and let the fermentation temperature rise from the high 60’s to mid-70’s to dry it out a bit. Head brewer Tim Evon let me know, “if one has the patience, this is definitely a beer to hang on to for a while”.
While Dry Dock Brewing has had quite a few head brewers in the past 10 years, they have all left their own mark in some great way. Moving forward, Dry Dock will be releasing barrel-aged sour and brett beers in bottles. Look for these in the next coming months!
In the past decade, Dry Dock Brewing has won more medals than any other Colorado brewery. Considering the uniquely high beer standards that Colorado breweries have created in the market, this is a huge accomplishment that the brewers at Dry Dock are extremely excited about and proud of. Celebrate this Saturday, October 24, from 2-6 p.m. at their North Dock location to take a trip down memory lane and celebrate a decade of brewing!
Dry Dock Brewing Co.
15120 E Hampden Ave
Aurora, CO 80014
Phone: (303) 400-5606
Website: drydockbrewing.com