Our Weekend Getaway to Conquer the Golden Craft Beer Trail

Colleen and I had a whirlwind weekend in Golden to try all the stops on our Golden Craft Beer Trail. (Photo by John Roberts)

Golden represents the very best of everything I find great about living in Colorado.  

The city’s slogan “Where the West Lives” tells a lot. Visitors and residents love Golden because of all it offers right at the doorstep of the Rocky Mountains. You have easy access to hiking, biking, fishing and other recreational activities, such as kayaking and tubing on Clear Creek — and plenty of shopping and restaurants. 

Plus, Golden is located only 30 minutes from downtown Denver.  

Colleen and I head to the city often for weekend getaways or to entertain friends and family when they come to the area for a visit.  

During past trips, we were happy to find that Golden — like any proper town in Colorado — features a fantastic array of craft breweries. Sipping new beers is always a favorite way to spend part of our weekends, and trying the craft varieties while chatting with new friends is a fun way to reward ourselves after a vigorous hike or bike ride on the region’s epic trails.  

We went back to Golden recently with an important mission: We were going to try all the breweries on the Golden Craft Beer Trail.  

I’m not sure that this craft beer trail even existed before now, but let’s make it a thing! 

First, let me tell you about the best place to stay in Golden for your weekend getaway. Table Mountain Inn is a wonderful property with a great restaurant located right in the heart of Historic Downtown Golden. 

I’ll give you a review of this adobe-style boutique hotel, and then we’ll go step-by-step along our new craft beer trail. (Also, you can find a list of all the spots we’ve tried so far in our always-expanding Colorado Craft Brewery Guide.) 

Table Mountain Inn: Southwestern Style in the Heart of the Action 

We stayed at Table Mountain Inn, which is located on Washington Avenue, convenient to all the top activities in Golden. (Photo by Colleen McDaniel)

The hotel is located at 1310 Washington Ave. and sits right across the street from the iconic Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza and one block down from the famous Buffalo Rose theater, restaurant and events center. 

For families and visitors coming to town for activities and events at Colorado School of Mines, Table Mountain Inn is an ideal spot to stay, as it’s just a five-minute stroll to campus. You also are right next to the Coors Brewery facilities, so you can visit for a tour and tastings there.  

Table Mountain Inn features meeting spaces, large rooms with spacious balconies, a strong wifi signal and happy hour specials daily at the lively bar. 

There is no fitness center, however.  

The Sante Fe-style decor is pleasing — fitting for a property that dates to 1925 — and evokes the rugged aesthetic of the wild west. There are 74 rooms, with nine room categories, including an accessible room. The suites all include jetted tubs, and most rooms offer views of the foothills. 

Rates start around $269 a night, with prices higher on weekends and during high season.  

This is a dog-friendly hotel, and packages for pets include a plush dog bed and feeding mat to use in the room, as well as a take-home collapsible dog bowl and bag of doggie treats.  

Table Mountain Grill & Cantina: Delicious Southwestern Food 

Reservations are highly recommended for this popular restaurant located inside the hotel. There is a dining room, space to eat within the bar area and a large patio space for al fresco dining.  

The eatery serves brunch, lunch, dinner and hosts two happy hours per day (2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close). 

Breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros, fresh omelets, french toast, cinammon rolls, chicken and biscuits, and biscuits and gravy anchor the brunch menu. 

Colleen and I went to dinner and had a hard time choosing from all the amazing options on the menu. 

We picked pork belly plantains, chips and salsa and flaming asadero cheese (prepped tableside) for appetizers. The menu also features elote empanadas, chicken wings and street corn nachos for starters. 

Handhelds include items like half-pound burgers (green chili bacon, Angus cheese burger), Santa Fe hot chicken sandwich, Table Mountain Cubano sandwich and cheese quesadilla. 

And the Southwestern-Mex flair really takes hold with the main courses of pollo asado, carne asada, chicory-cured cab short rib, Rocky Mountain ruby trout, and a variety of fajitas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas and rellenos. 

We chose the carne asada and fajitas and had plenty of leftovers from the outstanding meal.  

We complemented our dishes with tasty margaritas. Table Mountain Grill & Cantina offers an extensive drinks menu with six different types of margs; Colleen had the Spicy Senorita (Sandinista Sriracha Lime Reposado tequila, prickly pear syrup, fresh lime, agave, tajin rim), and I enjoyed my Maestro Cadillac (Table Mountain's custom-crafted Maestro Dobel Barrel tequila, Grand Marnier liqueur, fresh lime, agave). 

The drink menu also features dozens of mules and other cocktails, wines and draft and bottled beers. 

Our 9 Stops Along the Golden Craft Beer Trail 

We found nine craft breweries to check out around town. A handful are within an eight-minute walk from Table Mountain Inn. We started with these spots on Friday night before dinner, walking from place to place to get a little exercise and work up an appetite on the sunny afternoon in Golden. 

Then, we jumped into the car to hit up the rest all day Saturday, sampling five-ounce pours (mostly) and having lunch while mingling with the crowds, watching sports and petting the friendly dogs that you’ll see frolicking at every brewery in town. 

1. Mountain Toad Brewing 

This is a six-minute walk from the hotel (located at 900 Washington Ave.), and we started the journey here. I savored the nice Toadally Hazed IPA, and Colleen chose the Fruitful Endeavor Sour with pineapple and lime.  

Mountain Toad features a food truck on site (a nice rotation of a variety of trucks) and a friendly vibe. This was our second time here, as it was among the places we visited during our first stay in Golden a couple years earlier.  

2. Golden City Brewery 

We’ve also been here before. This is Colleen’s favorite for the awesome outdoor space and pavilion area. It’s a wonderful spot to hang out and enjoy the brews, a mix of GCB beers and collabs from other breweries in town.  

This time, I had the Clear Creek Kolsch, and Colleen downed a Firefly New England IPA.  

Golden City (920 12th Street) is proudly woman-owned and was the city’s first microbrewery when it opened in 1993. 

3. Bivy Beer Bar 

This spot is fairly new in its location at 600 12th Street. It’s the former location for Barrels & Bottles, which we’ll see again further down this list.  

We popped by Bivy Beer Bar as the final Friday stop on the trail before dinner back at Table Mountain Grill & Cantina. We had time for a couple of pints. The bar doesn’t brew its own beers but features 20 taps with rotating varieties from Colorado craft breweries and award winners from around the country. 

The bar also offers canned wines and a nice selection of cocktails. The service here is super friendly, and they’ll gladly try to find your favorite game on the TVs.  

4. Coda Brewing  

This award-winning microbrewer is a gem, serving as an apothecary with a fantastic “science” theme to brew up elixirs to help cure anything that ails its customers.  

The bar also rolls out experimental small-batch varieties that are worth keeping a lookout.  

There is a rotating schedule of food trucks; Smokin’ Wheels BBQ was there during our visit. 

We started our Saturday rounds at Coda Brewing (15965 Golden Road), where we got a flight of five beers. We had a broad spectrum of flavors with the Microdose Hazy IPA, Sleepyhead (passionfruit kolsch), Spare Time Hazy IPA, Annulet (passionfruit, mango and guava sour) and Half Timber Rauchbier. 

5. Barrels & Bottles Brewery 

It was nice to see the expanded space at Camp George West. Barrels & Bottles moved shortly after we first visited the business in its downtown location. Now at 1055 Orchard Street, it offers a big parking lot, expanded food menu and tons of indoor and outdoor seating. 

Colleen and I targeted Barrels & Bottles for lunch, and we grabbed a nice French dip sandwich and gigantic soft pretzel with craft beer mustard to munch on while watching the Nuggets beat the Spurs on one TV and the Avs take down the Stars on another. 

For beer, I grabbed the Who Called the Hops Hazy IPA, and Colleen enjoyed the Key Lime Pie Creamsicle Blonde Ale. The bar also offers a variety of popular wine slushies.  

We also snagged a four-pack of Stay Classy Colorado Baltic porter to stick in our beer fridge back home. 

6. Mad Macks Brewing 

This small-batch brewery (1921 Youngfield Street) is tucked into the Applewood Grove Shopping Center, and we stopped by after lunch to try a couple beers. Mad Macks offers a friendly environment to come for trivia nights, comedy, live music, games and to watch sports.  

Snacks include casual items, such as chips and pizza.  

We shared the Girl Dinner (peanut butter banana marshmallow blonde) and Cupid’s Arrow (kettle sour with peaches). This brewery focuses on low-gluten beers. 

7. New Terrain Brewing Co.  

This is a big brewery, and it was packed on a Saturday afternoon. New Terrain is located at 16401 Table Mountain Parkway, and the sprawling facility features a beer garden, taproom, store and three food trucks at a time.  

We made a quick stop at New Terrain for a walkthrough and short pours of Golden Haze IPA and Scandalous Whip (sour with pistachio, pineapple and fior di panna). We liked the Golden Haze so much that we grabbed a couple cans to take home.  

8. Holidaily Brewing Co.  

This spot is celebrating its 10th year in business in 2026 and bills itself as Colorado’s first dedicated gluten-free brewery. 

There is a large patio and great indoor space for events. They brewery hosts trivia nights, live music and Pilates classes. 

You’ll also find gluten-free food trucks here every weekend. Holidaily is located at 801 Brickyard Circle, and we enjoyed our time watching the NCAA Final Four games while sipping the popular Darty Lager and crisp Wild Tangerine Blonde.  

9. Cannonball Creek Brewing Co. 

This staple of the craft beer scene in Golden has been in operation since 2013. It has a big indoor space (393 N. Washington Ave.) and a lot of picnic tables on the patios for sitting outside with your friends in the sunshine.  

Cannonball Creek offers a food truck calendar with a huge variety of food always rolling through. 

We liked the Mindbender, a refreshing West Coast IPA with a mix of grapefruit and pine notes. The rotating list of beers also offered a Belgian blonde, a German pilsner, a porter and Mexican lagers. It’s a well-rounded menu of beers that offers something for every drinker.