105 West Brewery

105 WEST BREWING CO. 🍺🇺🇸

This veteran-owned brewery has seen major growth and love in Castle Rock, with great reasons: love for service members, love for employees, great beer, and space to relax!

My family frequents 105 West because kids are always welcome! No games or toys here, but they’ll happily sell sodas/snacks to tide them over. I always see families in here after school/on weekends. It has become an ideal spot to meet up with friends!

They always have food trucks, including their own pizza truck (more on that later, it deserves its own post 🍕).

I was given a tour of the space and discovered how big 105 is! Stepping into the brewing area, where head brewer Hayley makes/cans all the beer, helped to illustrate how much 105 beer goes out into our community.

What’s the big sell? 105 has built a reputation for caring about people. Being a gratuity-free taproom allows them to pay the staff an above-average wage, so you know happy people are pouring your drinks 😄

If you leave cash behind, it goes to a charity of the month, which rotates between supporting veterans, local trails, and a number of other causes. 🧡 The charity of the month listed on the wall, where you’ll also see many badges left by service members from around the country.

Did you know 105 makes wine? I didn’t! They have a wine cellar, where they make wine and hold tastings?🍷 I met with winemaker Larry, who gave me a cellar tour and told me about the lively fun of his events.

If you were a customer in the early days of 105, you remember when it was a wee tap room. Step in now and it’s a complex! 105 expanded into next door space, to help increase production and patron area.

That growth has set them apart. Never shutting down during construction, 105 let customers witness and be a part of the transition. It helped build a culture of trust and loyalty (which is why, even with 3x the space, it can still be hard to find a table!).

The way I see it, the main problem 105 faces is popularity. Their events (like St. Patty’s Day) draw huge crowds. Likewise, weekend crowds continue to be abundant, showing up to enjoy great beer, live music, and a friendly atmosphere.