49 (dog) Years and Counting

Great food, great service and great beer highlight three areas Cerberus Brewing has been known for. Heading into their 7th anniversary party this Sunday, Cerberus looks to the past for their future.

A few weeks ago, our sister publication Side Dish with Schniper reported that Cerberus Brewing had brought back their well-loved chef Mark LeFebvre in an effort to elevate their kitchen offerings once again. LeFebvre had recently come back to town as the Executive Sous Chef at the Garden of the Gods Resort and Spa, so it’s welcome news that he was turning some attention towards Cerberus’ kitchen and menu.

As we learned during our visit with their team, LeFebvre came in for a short term to revamp the menu and help bring in some new staff, starting with long-time Cerberus chef Shawn Smith. Smith had been with Cerberus since opening and had left to pursue other opportunities in 2021, so a chance to help right the ship and elevate their menu helped bring him back on board. Also rejoining the team is LeFebvre’s wife Melisa, who is Cerberus’ new GM, who hopes that the new talent in the three tenets of Cerberus’ business can help them continue to grow.

“We’re taking inspiration from the three headed dog—showcasing great food, great service and great beer.” — Melisa LeFebvre

Talking strictly food, Smith is eyeing dishes and menu options that had fallen to the wayside over the years, but were either fan or Cerberus favorites. Things like the bread pudding will be reincarnated with peaches adding some flair and flavor or bacon bites will make new appearances as they continue to tweak the menu. Smith assures us that the menu won’t experience an entire overhaul, but they’ll be slowly adding or replacing items to really highlight the comfort food Cerberus has been known for.

“I like to think of it as elevated comfort food, showcasing high quality ingredients and our kitchen’s talent.” — Shawn Smith

Talking with Smith and Head Brewer Troy Johnson, they both were quick to express excitement about collaborations between the brewhouse and the kitchen. Oktoberfest will be the first of such collaborations, with the kitchen offering some authentic german-style dishes to complement Troy’s German-styled beer offerings. Look for more beer dinners and other food-beer pairings this Winter, too.

Expansion-schmansion

A few years back, Cerberus bought the Colorado Springs Bike Shop, which sits across 7th Street from the brewery, in hopes of converting the 10,000 square foot facility into an expanded brewhouse, so the original building could have more kitchen and seating space. Owner Jerry Morris tells us that those plans are still in the works, but have been complicated because the bike shop business, which Cerberus kept alive as they narrowed down plans for the building, has been booming in the post-COVID times.

“This summer has been the best ever for the bike shop, most notably the e-bikes we’re selling. The State [of Colorado] keeps sending us new rebates, which in turn ramps up sales of e-bikes.” — Jerry Morris

Once, the hope was that the bike shop would slow down and let the brewery naturally take over the space, but with business booming, those decisions are a little harder for Cerberus to make.

One bright spot for Troy and the brewing team is the recently-acquired grain silo, installed on a platform directly adjacent to their brewhouse. Cerberus found the silo in great condition, and purchased it used from a seller in California. They’re working on piping it into their mill room and hope to have it all up and running by February.

Emerging from the pandemic

The Cerberus sign pre-opening…

Like all breweries and small businesses, the COVID pandemic was extra difficult and presented ever-changing challenges for Cerberus Brewing. Tom and Jerry kept all of their staff on, with reduced hours based on what they could provide, but one challenge the kitchen experienced was keeping on staff as labor and ingredient costs have skyrocketed. They’re only now seeing that business has started returning to where they’d expect it to be, thanks to their renewed focus on their kitchen and expanding distribution.

Speaking of distribution, Cerberus has been hand-selecting specific stores around Colorado Springs where they want to sell their beer, opting to go the self-distributed route over working with a larger distribution company. Cerberus says that’s purposeful, in order to ensure all of their beer on shelves is at its best quality, but also that they can hit certain markets around town where they may not be as crowded out by larger brands or other breweries.

A Revolving Door No More

When Troy Johnson took the reins of the brewhouse, he stepped into a role that had a “revolving door” of different brewers since original co-founder Joshua Lang left the brewery. Troy’s decades of experience at Bristol, Phantom and Red Leg has ultimately allowed him to embrace the challenge of continuing inherited beer styles like Elysium, but also expand Cerberus’ lineup to better suit their brewpub atmosphere. One well-regarded addition is the fizzy-yellow “The Dale High End Lager” which is both a poke and a nod towards Big Beer, providing an easy-drinking lager for Cerberus patrons.

“There was a time where Cerberus had 10 or so IPAs on the board, and were infamous for not brewing certain styles, but I hope we can change that to better fit what our customers want to drink.” — Troy Johnson

Another poke-type beer is Troy’s Haze Boi lineup, named after me for some reason, which has hit the third iteration. Originally, Troy played off of Brannigan’s Law from Futurama naming the initial version “Hannigan’s Law” but has continued the line with more scientific process terminology (Haze Boi 2.0 being Hannigan’s Theory and 3.0 being “my” Hypothesis). If you’re a fan of Elysium or hazy IPAs, definitely check it out, it’s pretty good in my completely biased opinion.

It’s a party!

This Sunday will mark the 7th anniversary for Cerberus Brewing, and they’re releasing their Märzen to celebrate. The party will happen all day long, but along with the new beer release, Cerberus will play host to All Breed Rescue’s therapy dogs…if you need a little pick-me-up from all this gloomy weather, head to Cerberus to hang out with a pooch or two. All Breed will be photographing for their 2024 calendar, so dogs are encouraged to join for a chance to be in their calendar!

Bonus for those who made it this far: Cerberus will be handing out free beer coupons at Pawtoberfest on Saturday…