Dostal Alley attracts beer lovers to Central City

The video- poker machines bong nonstop and players belly up to the bar — also studded with machines — but the main attraction is beer.

Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino on Central City’s main street is part casino and all about beer, thanks to brewer/owner Buddy Schmalz, who fell in love with brewing and turned it into a business.

No one will mistake Dostal Alley for Anheuser-Busch. The pub’s tiny brew house occupies a space generously estimated at 10 by 14 feet and turns out a mere 300 barrels a year, a blink in the eye of A-B.

The state’s new gambling rules have given Dostal and the rest of Central City a boost. “We’re open 24 hours,” said Schmalz, like his father, Bruce, a former mayor of the town. “We have to stop serving at 2 a.m. (but) people stick around, gamble. We’ve seen an increase in gambling, more people about in town.”

Schmalz’s beer styles range, depending on his mood, from British bitters to Belgian-style summer ales, and he sells out of them faster than he can brew. His Shaft House Stout, an Irish-style dry stout, won a silver medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival.

Unlike most brewpub owners, Schmalz didn’t start as a home brewer. “I didn’t know what was in beer when we started. One of our bartenders was a home brewer. He became our brewer. I started learning. It was a crash course. I thought, ‘This is the greatest! I don’t want to give this up!’”

Another boon to Dostal was the arrival of former Coors brewer Dave Thomas, who lends a creative hand and technical assistance. “He’s been unbelievable!” Schmalz enthused. “I knew him a long time ago but I didn’t know what he did for a living. We went to a brewers meeting one time. At that time, he was still active in Coors. When he retired, I said, ‘What are you to do now, Dave?’” What he did was join Schmalz’s operation. “He hangs out. He’s here all the time. He washes kegs, too. He’s just fun to be around.”

Dostal Alley opened as a casino in 1991 but the brewery didn’t come along until somewhere around 1998. Schmalz isn’t sure when; he’s too busy. “We’re still trying to figure out exactly when.”

—by “Mr. Beer,” Dick Kreck