About RItual Brewing Co.

Steve Dunkerken and Owen Williams began making beer together in Dunkerken's garage. Their new operation is a little bigger—23,000 square feet, to be precise, including a 30-barrel brewhouse. They didn't make the jump from home brewing to production brewing blindly, however. When the two met, Williams was the first-ever Director of Brewing Operations for BJ’s Brewhouse, and a little skeptical about the homebrew scene.

But Dunkerken's creativity won him over. The brewery they founded, Ritual, produces complex, interesting potions such as the Big Deluxe Imperial Oat Stout—"so dark it actually absorbs light," as the brewers put it—and the Extra Red Ale, made with eight different malts and a massive helping of hops.

Most of Ritual's beers are destined for bars, restaurants, and the swimming pools of millionaires, but there's also a taproom tucked away inside the brewery. There, live music often adds to the festive environment, and knowledgeable beer guides lead tours and share facts about the brewery's design, including tables crafted from 1960s-era bowling lanes.