Dolores River Brewery
Dog Friendly on a leash
accepting to-go orders
970-882-4677 (HOPS)
100 S 4th St.
Dolores, Co.
Tue - Sun - 4 pm
Welcome to SW Colorado's premium beer garden and music space.
Crafted
DRB: Built when putting together a working brewery was part of the craft.
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Although DRB started brewing in late 2001, the brewery itself was a work of searching, collecting, and scavenging that started 15 years earlier, and is a testament to patience and passion. Our grain mill was rescued from a scrap yard in Los Angeles, our brewhouse from a defunct brewery in Cincinnati, our serving vessels from a pub in the UK, our refrigeration from a yard sale in Durango, and our fermenters from a deep slumber in a field in the old mining town of Illium. Hundreds of hours were lovingly spent reclaiming our equipment from time, neglect and the elements. Nothing was purchased as new.
We brew 125 gallons at a time, and blend two batches of every style for balance and consistency. Our malt comes from the upper midwest, Canada, Germany, and the UK, while our hops are entirely domestic from the Yakima Valley in Washington. Our yeast is a proprietary strain from the National Collection of Yeast Cultures in Norwich England and is banked at three different yeast labs around the country to insure it’s purity. ​​
Brewing is a strange form of alchemy, rarely understood, never mastered. Theory, philosophy, and perception all coalesce to create a belief in proper practice. However, what one brewer finds as "truth", another will just as soon condemn as folly. The longer one brews, the more respect one has for the mystery of this ancient art. Our brewing philosophy centers around reverence and intention. We strive to bring our heart and presence to our brewing practice in a way that can manifest the most ideal conditions for "the Magic" of Fermentation. The rest is up to the universe. Much of our brewing heritage comes from the idea of Reinheitsgebot, or Purity Order, a law created in 16th century Bavaria restricting the ingredients in brewing to Barley, Hops and Water. (Yeast was unknown at the time). we embrace this law as an idea that the purity of what the art of brewing is, can be expressed within these constraints. IN fact, we don't see them as constraints, but as an invitation to explore subtlety and nuance. We hope you enjoy our work.