Cannonball Creek is best brewery you don't know

• Located in a nondescript business mall off Colorado Highway 93, it's easy to miss.
• Plus, you usually can't find its beer outside the taproom.

Yes, but: All that is poised to change. Cannonball is ready for a breakout as it considers expanding its brewing operations, possibly to a new location, and distributing outside the taproom. It recently bought its own canning line, too.

What they're saying: "We have our eyes open," Hutchinson said.

State of beer: He and co-founder Jason Stengl have considered expanding capacity in the past, but the idea is gaining momentum as the brewery continues to earn accolades and sell out of its flagship brews.

• Cannonball won a gold and silver medal at this month's annual Great American Beer Festival competition, both for no-frills, easy-to-drink hoppy beers.

BFD: It's the 12th consecutive year that Cannonball took home a medal.

• The streak started in 2013, the brewery's first year, and now stands as the longest in the nation for a single brewery, an Axios Denver analysis found.
• It also makes Cannonball one of the most-awarded breweries in the state.

Flashback: In 2022, they received low-quality hops and the streak nearly ended.

• But Cannonball eked out a bronze medal for an experimental rosemary sourdough saison, a beer outside its wheelhouse.

Between the lines: Cannonball is not one to chase the latest trends.

• The brewery does not make hazy IPAs, big adjunct stouts or fruit-forward sours — all favorites among the craft beer crowd. Instead, it focuses on lighter-body, drinkable IPAs and lagers.
• And it continues to innovate. The recipe for its Featherweight Pale Ale has changed a handful of times with different hop and grain combinations and just won its 5th GABF medal.

The bottom line: Go to Golden to find Cannonball Creek beers.