In the summer of 2006 I spent three weeks in Aurora, Colorado doing some theatre work with kids. Of course I used my off hours to explore the incredible Denver craft beer scene. One of the breweries that I found on Beermapping.com was Dry Dock Brewing. It was located in Aurora, just a few miles from my hotel. How could I not pay them a visit?

I jumped in the car and drove to the address. I drove up and down the street looking for any signs of a brewery, but found none. Frustrated, I finally decided to ask in the homebrew store that I had driven past. Surely they would know if there was a brewery in the area. That turned out to be a good call, as the brewery I sought was literally in the back-room of the store.

I went into the tasting room, a tiny, nondescript and somewhat makeshift bar area. It didn’t fill me with confidence about the beers I would find there. I took a seat at the bar and ordered the sampler tray. Out came six or eight beer samples representing a wide range of styles. As I worked my way through I was completely surprised. These were really good beers. I loved the vanilla porter. The hefeweizen was heavenly. There was an opulent old ale. But the best of all was the H.M.S. Victory ESB. I was surprised to learn that this beer had won a gold medal at the world beer cup earlier that year. They continued to win medals every since.

Having discovered all this great beer I spent a lot of time in that little tasting room during the rest of my Aurora stay. I was happy to go back to Dry Dock following this year’s Great American Beer Festival. Things have changed a bit since my visit four years ago. I got to speak and share a beer with owner and founder Kevin DeLange. Here’s the interview.

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