The Forgeworks Story
it all began in 1994 in a small hand-built workshop
A story of pride and craftsmanship, Forgeworks began in 1994 in a small hand-built workshop in the mountain mining town of Rico, Colorado, population 265. Twenty-seven-year-old Tom Bennett started his first company, Bennett Forgeworks, intending to service a growing market for fine woodworking in nearby Telluride. But a chance meeting with a local blacksmith led him to pursue and master the art of forging metal.
Since those early days Tom has grown a successful business providing beautiful architectural metalwork to homes and businesses across the San Juan Mountain region in Southwest Colorado. Eventually leaving his small wooden shop in a friend’s backyard, the operation transcended into a large modern building with heavy forging equipment, advanced fabricating machinery and a well-equipped machine shop in Ridgway, Colorado . It was at this shop in Ridgway, where Bennett got word from Tom Hennessy, the owner of the local Colorado Boy Brewery, about this happy and growing craft beer industry being in need of a rewarding experience with a maker of brewhouses, resulting in genuine satisfaction and burly equipment along their stainless steel journey. The Forgeworks signature is on nearly every vessel in our offering, which presents Tom Bennett's handiwork from the Ridgway forge, such as our forged brass manway handles and brass name plaques.
Over the past decade Forgeworks has grown from repairing or modifying existing brewery equipment for Tom Hennessy of our local brewery, Colorado Boy, to a world class brewhouse and cellar vessel production program here in Ridgway. Our talented welding & fabrication staff choose to live in Colorado’s Western Slope out of a passion for a mountain lifestyle and the opportunity to perform their craft resulting in burly equipment for the craft beer industry. These are our works, the fruits of our employees’ calling (not the yield of a job). Fabrication by working metals is the choice of trade for each of us, and our place in the Craft Brewing Industry is a delicious pairing.
We design and build all our vessels inspired by some core tenants:
Pride in our place in the world, and our industry
Design of mechanisms that work so well as to elicit a smile
Function so seamless that allows the end user to work without distraction from their tools
Aesthetic that displays care and thoughtful consideration, with all traces of awkwardness in the visual composition worked out
Signature Craftsmanship, executed right, that is second to none
As a small business in the brewing industry we are always excited to hear about new brew pub ventures. We believe brewers know best what they need - and we genuinely enjoy sharing a passion with our customers and being a significant part of their journey. As Brewhouses are quite iconic in the brew pub, we take pride in our place in the craft beer world.
