Ska Brewing

Founded in Durango in 1995 by Dave Thibodeau and Bill Graham, Ska Brewing was the second Colorado beer-maker to being canning, and has grown rapidly. In 2008, the company built a four-story beer fortress, known as Ska Brewing World Headquarters, in a business park just outside town with the help of a third partner, Matt Vincent. The $5 million, 24,000-square foot building includes a small homebrewing shop; two canning lines, a bottling line, a massive brewhouse, offices, two walk-in freezers and an empty floor that could one day be used for guest rooms. But the highlight is the taproom, which features Ska favorites, like Modus Hoperendi, True Blonde and Nefarious Ten Pin Porter, along with seasonal beers and taproom-only specials. There is also an on-site taco shop, Tia's, doing business in the warmer months, an outdoor patio and an area where farmers pull up to load up spent brewing grain that they use as fertilizer. Oh, and the inside tables are made from lumber that was once used as the bowling alleys in Denver's Monaco Lanes.