E-Malt.com News article: USA, CO: Denver Beer Co to expand production capacity and add second tasting room

The Denver Beer Co, which just celebrated its first birthday last month, plans to spill over into a separate, 1,700-square-foot space next door that will be called the Barrel Room at Denver Beer Co., westword.com reported on September, 12.

The addition, scheduled for completion in December, will allow the brewery to expand its production capacity by 142 percent and add a second, smaller tasting room for special events and dinners.

When the project is done, Denver Beer Co will have added four fifteen-barrel fermenters to the six seven-barrel fermenters it already has. That will allow the brewery to produce 3,500 barrels per year and distribute some of it to bars or restaurants around town.

But the expansion means Denver Beer Co will also shift its brewing strategy slightly so that it produces several regular beers in addition to the one-offs it has focused on since the beginning, says brewery co-owner Patrick Crawford.

"Part of our big passion is to do one-offs, but as we start to keg and distribute beer around town, we hope to have one or two beers that people can go back to, and seasonals that are around for a whole season instead of just a week," he explains.

When Denver Beer Co opened a year ago, Crawford and co-owner Charlie Berger decided not to feature any year-round staples, preferring to focus on a seasonal tap list. But demand for some of those beers, especially Graham Cracker Porter, convinced them to alter those plans a little.

Accessed by a separate entrance, the Barrel Room will include a 1,000-square-foot bar area with 45 seats and a "tasting parlor." The room will be lined with barrels and will offer a different line-up of beers - including specialty IPAs, wood-aged beers and sours - many of them aged in the barrels on the walls.



14 September, 2012