Pioneering Craft Beer

Did you know Golden City Brewery has the 37th Brewery license in the state? Many notable breweries came before GCB, and we were microbrewery fans before it was the cool thing to do. As Brewmaster Charlies celebrates 75 circles around the sun, we've been looking back. You may have noticed a few instagram stories "the way it was" the past few weeks (fun fact, our Instagram account is older than ANY other microbrewery in Golden!)

The Legendary Red Ale is Charlie's quest for perfection. It started out as a homebrew kit in the late 80s, gifted by his wife. The result was so poor Charlie started homebrewing. Then the homebrewing out grew the kitchen, and the basement, and suddenly the old machine shop behind his house was a full scale microbrewery. The first fermenting vessel acquired was a square dairy tank, with two sides holding 1000 gallons each. "Go big or go home" Said Charlie, probably, as he was already home. The gas fired kettle we acquired from Carver Brewing Company in Durango, CO. A used wine bottling machine from New Belgium found a new home at GCB- and made 22oz bottle conditioned bombers readily available to the people of Golden. Eventually we gained two lager tanks from New Belgium in 1998 (as they grew in scale, so did we!)

Every since 1993, while the beer garden, taproom, and brewery have seen numerous upgrades, and Charlie has taken some side quests, the original quest for the perfect German Style Alt Bier remains- stop by the taproom today and give history a taste!

Keep checking back, as I will write a few blogs on Charlie's beer side quests, as well as our more modern updates.

Thank you for reading, and please attend our Brewmaster's Birthday Bash on June 6th.

-Tamara