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Dam Brewery

Authentic American
Cuisine, Redefined.

The Dam Story

For 25 years, the Summit Daily Readers’ Poll has awarded the Dam Brewery top honors in multiple categories. In 2022 we were nominated for 10 categories: Dining: Best Beers on Tap, Best Brewery/Distillery/Dining, Best Family Restaurant, Best Happy Hour/Apres Ski, Best Place to Feed a Crowd, Best Restaurant: Dillon, Best Sports Bar, Best Burger, Best French Fries, Best Wings.

Our History

The Dillon Dam Brewery opened in February 1997 and is one of 9 Brewpubs and Breweries operating in Summit County, Colorado. We were born from the idea that a true Brewpub celebrates all family members. We are a place that welcomes all ages, allows you to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and serves Dam good food and beer.

Our Mission Stays the Same

Serving Dam good food and beer is still our mission to this day. We update and rework our menu every summer and winter to offer more flavor, more nutrition and more hand-crafted items. We spend a lot of time prepping fresh ingredients before we open our doors so we can speedily create your meal.

We like to tinker with our menu to consistently try to improve it without losing your favorites — like our large beef and bison burger offerings, our signature chicken fried chicken and the beloved Mountain Man mac and cheese variations.

A Dam Big Brewery

A lot of hands are needed everyday to make the Dam Brewery a success. Not only are we the largest brewpub in the Colorado Rockies, but we are also one of the larger employers in the community.

Our two floors allow us to seat up to 220 people inside the building and our summer beer garden adds an additional 60 seats in the summer. A bridge overlooks the brewery and the horseshoe bar and holds a self guided brewery tour.

We added a big round table with booth seats near our awards display and changed out our pool tables for a tall community table. Both areas were instantly popular.

One Dam Big Dam

The Dam Brewery gets it’s name from the Dillon Dam which created Dillon Reservoir. Constructed between 1961 and 1963, the earth-filled dam rises 231 feet and is over a mile long. Lake Dillon is primarily a reservoir for the city of Denver. How does that water get across the Continental Divide? Through the Roberts Tunnel which transfers the water under the Divide to the South Platte River. At it’s deepest, the tunnel is 4,465 feet down under Santa Fe Peak. Lake Dillon is situated at the confluence of three rivers — the Blue, Snake and Ten Mile Rivers – and has 26.8 miles of shoreline and over 3,000 surface acres. Our walls feature framed historic photos showing the construction of the Dam. A fun way to see the dam and lake is to rent kayaks, SUPs, canoes, pontoon boats or sailboats at either the Dillon Marina or the Frisco Bay Marina.

Our Awards History

2000

Colorado State Fair

  • Gold, Stout, Oatmeal Stout

North American Beer Awards

  • Silver, English Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown
2001

Colorado State Fair

  • Bronze, Fruit Beer, Syndey’s Raspberry Ale

Great American Beer Festival

  • Silver, Vienna Style Lager, Dam Straight Lager

North American Beer Awards

  • Gold, Specialty Beers, Dam Chili Beer
  • Silver, Specialty Beers, Raspberry Porter
  • Bronze, English Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown
  • Bronze, Dortmunder, Vienna Lager, Dam Straight Lager
2002

Colorado State Fair

  • Gold, American Style Pale Ale, Extra Pale Ale
  • Bronze, German Style Lager, Dam Straight Lager

North American Beer Awards

  • Gold, American Style Pale Ale, Extra Pale Ale
  • Bronze, American Style Wheat, Wildernest Wheat

World Beer Cup

  • Gold, English Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown Ale
2003

Beverage Tasting Institute

  • Gold, English Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown Ale
  • Gold, Vienna Style Lager, Dam Straight Lager
  • Silver, American Pale Ale, Extra Pale Ale

Colorado State Fair

  • Gold, German Style Lager, Dam Straight Lager
  • Silver, Fruit Beer, Dam Chili Beer
  • Bronze, Porter, Pallivacini Porter
  • Bronze, Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown Ale

North American Beer Awards

  • Gold, Specialty/Experimental Beers, Dam Chile Beer
  • Silver, Dortmunder and Vienna, Dam Straight Lager
  • Honorable Mention, Traditional Bock and Doppel Bock, Yo Han Bock
2004

Craft Lager Fest

  • 2nd Place, Oktoberfest/Vienna, Dam Straight Lager
  • 3rd Place, Oktoberfest/Vienna, Otto’s Oktoberfest

Colorado State Fair

  • Gold, American Light Lager, Dam Lyte
  • Gold, Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown
  • Silver, Bock, Yo Han Bock
  • Silver, German Amber Lager, Dam Straight Lager
  • Bronze, Pale Ale, Extra Pale Ale

North American Beer Awards

  • Gold, Stout-Dry, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
  • Silver, Fruit, Dam Chili Beer
  • Bronze, Traditional Bock, Yo Han Bock

Great American Beer Festival

  • Bronze, Pale Ale, Extra Pale Ale

2005

Beverage Tasting Institute

  • Gold, Scotch Ale, Olde Forster’s Scotch Ale
  • Gold, Extra Special Bitter, Dam Extra Special Bitter
  • Silver, Winter Ale, Winter Warmer

North American Beer Awards

  • Gold, Dry Irish Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
  • Gold, German Style Bock, Yo Han Bock
  • Silver, Vienna German Lager, Dam Straight Lager
  • Bronze, English Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown

Colorado State Fair

  • Bronze, Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
  • Bronze, German Amber Lager, Dam Straight Lager

Craft Lager Fest

  • 1st Place, Bock, Yo Han Bock
  • 3rd Place, Pilsner, Paradise Pilsner
2006

Colorado State Fair

  • Silver, European Light Lager, Paradise Pilsner
  • Silver, German Amber Lager, Dam Straight Lager
  • Bronze, Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown

North American Beer Awards

  • Honorable Mention, Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout

Craft Lager Fest Manitou Springs, CO

  • 1st Place, Oktoberfest, Dam Straight Lager
2007

Colorado State Fair

  • Gold, Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
  • Silver, American Ale, Extra Pale Ale
    2008

    Colorado State Fair

    • Gold, European Amber Lager, Dam Straight Lager

    World Beer Cup

    • Silver, English Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown Ale

    Great American Beer Festival

    • Gold, English Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown Ale
    2009

    North American Beer Awards

    • Gold, English Brown Ales, Sweet George’s Brown Ale
    • Gold, Light Ales, Dam Lyte
    • Silver, Vienna, Dam Straight Lager
    • Silver, Dy Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
      2010

      World Beer Cup

      • Gold, Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout

      Great American Beer Festival

      • Silver, Classic Irish-Style Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
      2011

      North American Beer Awards

      • Bronze, English Brown Ales, Sweet George’s Brown Ale
      • Bronze, Dy Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
        2012

        North American Beer Awards

        • Gold, Dry Stout, McLuhr’s Irish Stout
        • Bronze, English Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown Ale

        World Beer Cup

        • Gold, German-Style Schwarzbier, Art of Science Schwarzbier
        • Bronze, English-Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown
        2013

        North American Beer Awards

        • Bronze, Experimental, Hoporter
          2016

          World Beer Cup

          • Silver, English-Style Brown Ale, Sweet George’s Brown

          Up To 17 Dam Beers On Tap. Lyte to Stout, Session to Aged.

          A large variety of rotating seasonal and experimental brews keeps people coming back to see what’s new.