Top 10 Best Breweries in Golden, CO

Want to know the best Golden, Colorado, breweries? We’ve got the top 10 right here!

We picked Golden as one of our top destinations in Colorado because of the breweries! Beer lovers will appreciate that Golden breweries run the gamut from the largest single-site brewery in the world (Coors Brewing Company) to the many award-winning craft beer makers that create suds from across the entire spectrum of styles and flavors.

In fact, over the years, most of the best breweries in Golden, CO, below have won medals at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. This is the most prestigious competition for the beer industry in the United States. Medaling in this forum is a pretty extraordinary feat!

While there are brewery tours to take you beer hopping, if you stay in the historic downtown area (see our pick below), many of these breweries are within walking distance, or a short drive away.

You don’t have to hit all 10 to find a great beer selection. Even the smallest craft breweries will serve a variety of beers that range in flavor, IBUs (International Bitterness Units, some call it hoppiness), and ABV (alcohol by volume, or alcohol content). Some breweries will also offer ciders and seltzers.

The atmosphere of these taprooms varies widely—from swanky to really casual. Most of these Golden breweries are focused solely on beer tasting and don’t serve food that they prepare themselves. Those that don’t offer their own cuisine arrange for various food trucks to come to offer their specialties. By rotating the truck schedule, taprooms ensure an ever-changing mix of foods and flavors.

Some breweries also offer live music and special events at their facilities. Be sure to check their websites to keep up to date on what trucks, talent, and events to look forward to.

I’m looking forward to moving on to our list of best breweries in Golden, Colorado! Are you?

One of the best breweries in Golden, CO, New Terrain Brewing Company offers great beers in a gorgeous setting.

Golden City Brewery

Talk about home brewers making it to the big leagues! Back in 1993, Charlie and Janine Sturdavant starting brewing German-style beers in the old machine shop behind their beautiful brick home in Golden. Their sunroom became a tasting room where locals could try the delicious red ale that was one of the couple’s first brews.

Today, this downtown Golden brewery still serves its Legendary Red Ale in the same spot. But it is now the second largest brewery in Golden. The machine shop still houses the brewery, but the tasting room has moved into a charming carriage house on the property, and there’s a backyard beer garden that welcomes beer lovers year round.

Tap offerings change frequently and cover a wide spectrum of options. When I was there, they had everything from a kölsch, cream ale, and IPAs to a doppelbock, stout, and sours—among other choices. The downtown location is convenient and easily walkable from anywhere on Washington Avenue, Golden’s main street.

Address: 920 12th Street, Building 2, Golden, CO 80401

The beer garden at Golden City Brewery, the second largest brewery in Golden

Cannonball Creek Brewing Company

Jason Stengl and Brian Hutchinson met at the Mountain Sun family of breweries in Boulder, Colorado, where they both learned a great deal about crafting fine beer. After amassing over 15 years of brewing experience between them, they decided to head out on their own and start a brewery together. They recruited a former co-worker and professional brewer Jonathan Lee to round out their team.

Jason and Brian located their new venture in their home town of Golden, and named it Cannonball Creek Brewing Company. The choice of moniker was in honor of the original name of Clear Creek, which runs through town.

If you’ve read my article on the best restaurants of Mendocino, you’ll know that my favorite style of beer is Belgian. And the Solid Gold Belgian Blonde that I had here was my favorite beer from any brewery in Golden, Colorado. Among the many other tasty offerings, the Trump Hands IPA and Featherweight Pale Ale have both won gold at the Great American Brewing Festival.

Cannonball has a spacious tasting room, and the two dog-friendly patios make it a great brewery for four-legged friends of beer fans. In fact, Mike and I were both so wrapped up in the deliciousness of our beers that I forgot about snapping a great photo of the brewery or the friendly dogs we got to hang out with.

Address: 393 North Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80403

Taps, tanks, and my favorite Golden, CO, beer at Cannonball Creek

Holidaily Brewing Company

If life gives you lemons, . . . start a brewery? Not exactly, but closer than you think. A craft-beer fan survives two bouts of cancer in her early 30s, and her treatment plan includes a gluten-free diet. Does she give up on her love of beer? Not if she’s Holidaily Brewing Company’s founder Karen Hertz.

Instead, Hertz dedicated herself to opening a gluten-free brewery that uses only gluten-free grains to produce only gluten-free beer. As a result, anyone who has Celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity of any sort can come to this Golden, Colorado, brewery and safely enjoy a bevy of delicious beers.

Holidaily is the perfect place to explore gluten-free brewing. Their Boombastic Hazy IPA, Big Henry Hazy IPA, and BuckWit Belgian have all medaled at the Great American Beer Festival. And enjoying a tasty new kind of brew is a great way to toast Karen Hertz’s philosophy of celebrating life every day.

Address: 801 Brickyard Circle, Golden, CO 80403

Holidaily Brewing Company, the only all-gluten-free brewery in Golden, offers a wide range of gluten-free beers.

Barrels & Bottles Brewery

Barrels & Bottles is a great spot to tame your thirst with a variety of options. They’re a craft brewery that pours an ever-changing selection of their own brews and rotates taps of guest beers. They also offer a wide selection of wines and even their dangerously delicious wine slushies.

In addition, they’re one of the few breweries in Golden with food of their own making. On a recent visit, I was impressed with their tasty French Dip Dough Nips and how well they paired with their Camp George Märzen—one of my Golden favorites.

Mike and I found their downtown location a great place for a perfect pause on their patio on a sunny afternoon. We savored some sips and bites and traded some laughs with the friendly staff and fellow customers. We’ll have to check out the Camp George West location the next time we’re in town.

Addresses: Original: 600 12th Street, Suite 160, Golden, CO 80401; Camp George West: 1055 Orchard Street, Golden, CO 80401

French Dip Dough Nips and Camp George Märzens at Barrels & Bottles Brewery in historic downtown Golden

New Terrain Brewing Company

New Terrain is a brewery in Golden, CO, with a rustically beautiful and incredibly spacious facility that backs up onto North Table Mountain Park. It features a large outdoor seating area with gorgeous mountain views.

The motto of New Terrain Brewing is “We wonder so we wander,” which has led them to make an amazing variety of inventive beers. I too wondered—which beers would most appeal to me—so I wandered through a tasting tree sampler. One of the best things about the experience was just being able to chill in the beautiful outdoors, drinking in the views while drinking down some brews.

My favorite beers were the Punky Masala (a spiced pumpkin seasonal), the Great American Beer Festival silver-medal-winning Suntrip (surprise, surprise, a Belgian wit), and the Rambler (an American amber). Meanwhile, Mike was rewarded for wandering outside his usual comfort zone. He tried a North Star v.37 (hazy IPA) and a Cruise Ride (American cream) and genuinely enjoyed both.

Address: 16401 Table Mountain Parkway, Golden, CO 80403

A tasting tree beer sampler at New Terrain Brewing Company’s outdoors seating area

Mountain Toad Brewing

Did you know that toads are a sign of a thriving environment? The founders of Mountain Toad Brewing did, and they consider their downtown Golden brewery a symbol of Golden’s healthy community.

The vision of this friendly brewery is to be a place where the community can come to gather and unwind with a pint of hand-crafted beer. That’s exactly what we found at Mountain Toad brewery.

When we walked into the taproom, there was a relaxed atmosphere, and a local at the bar greeted us. It took less than a minute before we were having a good time.

With a selection of Belgians, lagers, sours, fruits, IPAs, and porters, there’s something for everyone. I chose the White Ranch Wit, which was surprisingly refreshing for a wheat beer.

I also chose a huge quesadilla from the food truck, and Mike and I had no problem devouring it. Indeed, we found it very easy to thrive in this environment.

Address: 900 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401

Some delicious brews and tasty food-truck fare outside at Mountain Toad Brewing

Coda Brewing Company

Great things happen when a former yeast microbiologist transforms into a brewmaster, and that’s the story of Coda Brewery.

Specialties of founder and fermentation scientist Luke Smith include sours, saisons, and IPAs, and his Sleepyhead Passionfruit Imperial has raised the bar on fruit beers for Golden, CO, breweries.

Like a true scientist, Smith, using only the highest quality ingredients, continues to combine and test new flavors to create new experimental beers he calls elixirs. Elixirs because they may contain a little bit of beneficial health properties. Coda’s motto: “Ale’s what cures you.”

The experimental elixirs usually run out after just a few days at most since they’re only made in one-keg batches. So if something sounds good, get down to the Coda brewery ASAP!

Address: 15965 South Golden Road, C2, Golden, CO 80401

The Coda Brewing Company van offers a colorful backdrop for Coda’s outdoor patio.

Over Yonder Brewing Company

Over Yonder Brewery really is over yonder—off the I-70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills of southwest Golden.

But it’s not in the middle of nowhere. If you want to grab some grub and bring it to the brewery, there are a number of good options close by, and some will even make food deliveries to Over Yonder. In addition, there’s always a food truck outside.

When you arrive at this craft brewery, mosey on up to the counter to order one of the rotating beers on tap. Over Yonder prides itself on offering something for every palate: IPAs, cream ales, pilsners, stouts, sours, wheats, fruit beers, and more.

The “more” does not include wine, however. The wine barrels next to the bar are actually full of beer, which is barrel-aging before your eyes.

Another thing that makes this a really cool brewery is that they partner with their parking lot neighbor, Origin Hotel Red Rock, for shuttle service to the Red Rock Amphitheater during concert season.

Address: 18455 W Colfax Avenue, #103, Golden, CO 80401

The spacy, airy taproom at Over Yonder Brewing Company

Ohm Brewing Company

It may not be one of the breweries Golden, CO, is most famous for, but Ohm is one of the microbreweries that should not be overlooked.

The sign outside the Ohm Brewery says “Good Beer No Bullshit,” and that’s just what this nano brewing company delivers. Well, that and a pretty good bar menu from the resident food truck: satisfying tacos, burritos, and mac n’ cheese—all at reasonable prices.

Their straightforward, no-bull approach applies to their setting as well—a simple no frills taproom located in a strip mall with picnic tables out back.

Not so simple is the origin of the brewery name. It may come as a surprise to nonscientist beer drinkers that Ohm, symbolized as Ω, comes from the unit of measure for electrical resistance.

You’ll see references to joining the resistance around the brewery and in the beer names, like Resistance Rye Pale Ale. However, if you’re like me, always looking for the least hoppy beer, you’ll want to try the Ginger Cream Ale that finishes with ginger instead of hops. But no matter which beer you choose to cheer, long live the resistance!

Address: 1921 Youngfield Street, #210, Golden, CO 80401

The back patio at Ohm Brewing Company is hard to resist.

Coors Brewing Company

While Coors beer would never be on my Top 10 Beer list, the Coors Brewery tour is one of the top things to do in Golden. Currently, reservations for the free Coors tours are required, and you must be 21 or over to partake.

The popular beer tour is 30 minutes long and shows the stages of the brewing process, provides free beer sampling, and grants access to the gift shop. You’ll also see some historic memorabilia like bygone-era neon signs and vintage beer cans.

As an entrepreneur, I do find the history of Coors Brewing Company extremely impressive. Adolph Coors built a highly successful company on what used to be an old mining camp with a pilsner recipe he purchased from a Czech beer maker. An incredible example of the American dream coming true!

I guess the fact that they offer a free public tour is pretty cool too.

Address: 502 14th St, Golden, CO 80401

The Coors facility in Golden is the largest single-site brewery in the world.

Where To Stay in Golden, Colorado

The best place to stay in Golden is Table Mountain Inn!

Their location with a direct view of Table Mountain can’t be beat! Get a room on the top floor that faces Washington Avenue for the best views. We could even see the mountain from our bathroom!

The historic downtown sits right outside the front door of the hotel, and you can walk to many of the spots on our best Golden breweries list.

If you feel like driving and exhaust this list and want to check out a couple of breweries near Golden, try Great Frontier Brewing Company in Lakewood (10 miles away) or Brewery Rickoli in Wheat Ridge (8 miles away). Also, Denver is just a half hour away with even more breweries (and some pretty great sports bars too)!

No matter where you go or what you drink, have fun and be safe! Cheers!