Jerry Davis has a history of moving into a market at the right time with an understanding of food offerings, comfort, and location. After being involved in other ventures including nightclubs and venues like The Underground and Brewer’s Republic, the creation of Cerberus Brewing Company found a balance both offering a neighborhood feel while maintaining a standard of beer and food that elevates the area around it.
Davis explains that being up until 2 a.m. was OK in his 40s. “But once I turned 50, that became a challenge. I knew I wanted to do something that didn’t involve late nights.”
Josh Adamski, the manager of Brewer’s Republic for several years, was a home brewer and helped spark the brewery idea for Davis. Separately they had rented spaces for years downtown and wanted to own their next spot. The location where Cerberus was eventually built (formerly the Colorado Avenue Veterinarian Hospital) became available. It was the location of Davis’ vet in the past where he had to have two dogs put down. “So, I certainly had some history with the building,” explains Davis.
History is Finding the Right Building for Cerebus Brewing Company
The lot had been vacant for a while, but Davis saw a lot of opportunity. Davis worked with architect Ryan Lloyd on a vision, and it all came together. “It took us about a year and a half from the time we bought it, tore it apart, gutted it, and then put it back together. We had a little bit of knowing that it was going to be a bar. And we really looked at it as a bar as opposed to a place that had food and beer.”
Cerberus opened in the fall of 2016. In 2021, they put a cover over the deck. During COVID they had a tent to increase capacity but as the pandemic started to wane, they shaved down the size of that and put it in the back of the rear garden.
They also purchased Colorado Springs Bike Shop, which was across the street from the brewery in early 2020 just before the pandemic started. They opened Seven’s Gate Taproom there in October 2022 with the intention to expand the brewhouse itself and move it over into the space. The building itself is 10,000 square feet. Cerberus also made sure that the bike shop itself remained open giving the space a multi-use prospect.
But, even before this expansion, the vision for the brewery had to be solid. Davis explains that they looked at Cerberus as a three-legged stool. “And the three legs were good service; good food and beer; and a good, fun ambiance. And we felt like we needed all three of those things in order to be successful at what we wanted to do. We looked at each one of those individually and really tried to make sure that we’re true to those goals.”
Starting with a Great Beer
Brewer Troy Johnson, who took over from original Cerberus Brewer Adamski in October 2021, says it all has to start with good beer. “I try to have a good variety for everybody, which, with as many taps as we have (22), I like to have something light, something dark, something hoppy, something sour. I want to be able to say, ‘Yeah, come down. I probably have a beer for your mom, your Bud Light drinker, whoever’s with that many taps.”
Johnson says that they have been known for their hoppy beers like Elysian, which is one of their best sellers. But their lager beer, Dale, is usually always in the number 2 spot. “I’ve also got a bunch of dark stuff coming up as well as our barley wines, but I’m just trying to be really seasonal and have beers on for the right time of year really.”
Davis also adds that they made the decision early on that Cerberus wasn’t going to be just a brewery from the libation side of things. “We’ve always had a full bar. We have several different types of wine as well. And the idea was to make sure that if you’ve got 10 different people coming to one party, several of those people aren’t going to be true beer fans. So, in order to get everybody to hang out, you want to make sure that you’ve got something that appeals to a broad range of tastes.”
Davis continues that they were one of the first breweries in town to do beer slushies, which they introduced just as the pandemic was getting started. “It was that evolution in thinking that kind of helped save our bacon during the beginning of the pandemic because it was such an unusual thing. People were stuck at home and couldn’t go anywhere, but they could come and get a take-out beer slushie with food. And it just worked really, really well. It was amazing the amount of mileage that we got out of that slush machine just because it was so new and different. We never looked back after we put it in. It’s just kind of silly how attractive it is in warm weather.”
Food Making its Mark
Davis says that the food had to make its mark too by being different in certain ways. He continues, “You eat with your eyes first is the way I’ve always heard it. We call our food ‘elevated pub food’ and we pride ourselves on having things here that you’re not really going to find anyplace else.”
Cerberus is doing what Davis calls ‘New American cuisine,’ where it is taking something, a regional favorite, but then twisting it. “Like our Reuben rolls, which are just huge sellers for us. Taking a Reuben sandwich and shoving it inside an egg roll wrapper and frying it and serving it with Thousand Island dressing. People go nuts for those kinds of things.”
Davis also mentions their grilled cheese sandwich with smoked brisket and shishito peppers with their “amazing” cheese spread. “It’s things like that, taking something that is familiar but really changing it up and making it sound really good. That’s been something we’ve tried to do from the very beginning because you can get a plain old burger any place. It’s got to be something that is different that you have to offer that makes you stand out above the crowd.”
Part of their food vision was trying to put themselves on the map for not being just “that meat-and-potatoes kind of northeastern type thing. We’re in Colorado and we like spicy things and chilies, and that’s the stuff that fits in with what we wanted to do.”
Davis says Colorado Springs is finally starting to see some exciting innovation from a gastronomical standpoint. “And I’m the first one to say, ‘Bring it on! The higher the level, the higher we all float!’ That’s super exciting for me to see.”
Trying New Things Brewing-Wise
Johnson says that he is also allowed to try new things brewing-wise while delivering the standards everyone loves. This past summer, he explains, they did a beer called The Rookie Ale. “We did that with hemp seeds and mushrooms, and then barrel-aged it.”
Johnson says they keep barrels aging on a regular basis. He has another beer coming up with tart cherries and crabapples, aged in wine barrels. “That beer will be ready for Valentine’s Day. It’s been really fun because, as I said, I have a lot of freedom. We can play around and sometimes you do something, and it doesn’t work, but sometimes you do it and you just nail it. I want to use those kinds of ingredients, but not make them look like a gag where they’re just so over the top. I still want to taste like beer.”
Johnson cites their recent Christmas Ale as a most recent success. “It was all sweet potatoes and gourds … and I put one pumpkin in it. I went down to Pueblo and bought pounds of any kind of gourd I could find: acorn squash, ribbon squash, any kind of good-looking gourd. And then we roasted them, threw them in the mash, and added maple syrup and vanilla and nutmeg, and cinnamon. So, it was kind of like a Christmas tree. That beer sold out so fast. It wasn’t even around for Christmas itself.”
