Golden - Views & Brewery

Last Sunday hubby and I went to Golden, which is about an hour drive from Aurora, where we live. Golden is a small town near Metro Denver. They actually call it a city but with a population of about 20,000 people I just can't see how they qualify as a city.

We started our trip by going to Lookout Mountain which has a good view on the town. This is also where the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave are located. The museum is pretty small but I found it very informative and enjoyable. If you hear the name of Buffalo Bill Cody for the first time, like I did, make sure to visit the museum as he was a really interesting man.

View from Lookout Mountain

The road to the top of the mountain is very popular among cyclists and as the road shoulders are tiny they just go on the road itself meaning that you are likely to have a long and slow drive.
Take it easy and enjoy the views. 

Buffalo Bill Cody & his wife's grave

After visiting the museum and the grave we headed towards the town to visit Golden City Brewery. There are two breweries in Golden: one is Golden Brewery, which is one of the largest single-site breweries in the world; and the second one is Golden City Brewery, which is a small privately owned brewery. They advertise themselves as "second largest brewery in Golden" which is perfectly true as there are only two breweries in town.

Golden City Brewery, also known as GCB, is located at a private house and has a relatively large yard with tables for people to enjoy their beer and weather. To be perfectly honest the whole place is pretty shabby (but clean!) but the setting is so peaceful I've really enjoyed it! This brewery is also located a few blocks away from Washington St, the main street it Golden as far as I could tell.

Washington St if full with cafe's, grill restaurants and small stores and everything has a historical feel to it. I really enjoy this kind of settings and enjoyed the stroll along the street. Hope to come back next time and enjoy some hot chocolate and a muffin in one of those small cafes or maybe a steak in one of the restaurants.

After the visit to GCB, where we enjoyed some cold beer and a pizza, we went on a tour to Golden Brewery, a very large brewery that belongs to MillerCoors. It seems like the free tours to the brewery are one of the main attractions of Golden so they are very popular. There are mini buses that take you to and from the brewery. At the entrance they give you a phone guide and you pretty much can walk the tour on your own listening to it. Mine didn't work which I wasn't impressed about so you might want to check your while still at reception.

The pleasant surprise for me about this brewery was that it makes my favorite beer - Blue Moon. I wanted to go to the Blue Moon brewery but had no idea where it was until we arrived at the Golden Brewery and saw the Blue Moon logo around the place. Awesome! While at the brewery I tried Coors Banquet, which is also a light beer like Blue Moon but tastes differently. It is very refreshing and I really liked it. I wish I could try a few of the other beers but I really didn't feel like it, mainly because I already had had beer at the GCB and was quite full.

Wall of old posters at the Coors Brewery Lounge

Can only imagine how old this ad is...

At the end of the tour you come to what they call a lounge (I'd call it a bar) and can enjoy 3 free beer. I was quite happy with one (see my previous note) but there were people lining up for the next round while still holding full glasses in their hands. Pathetic if you ask me. Anyway, I think this kind of tour is great for a group of friends who enjoy beer, care to find out about the process of brewing and then enjoy some beer together. 


If you go to Golden and plan on the brewery tour I'd recommend doing this: 
Start early and go to the Lookout Mountain or go on a short hike. Then go to one of the cafe's on Washington St and have some morning tea, you don't want to be trying beers on an empty stomach. Afterwards go on a tour and make sure to try 3 different beer. Next walk to one of the grill restaurants for lunch or go to the GCB for more beer and lunch. 



After the brewery tour we headed back home but I plan on coming back, this time for hiking.