A relatively new style of IPA invented by Kevin Davey who founded Wayfinder Beer and Gold Dot Beer. It’s an IPA that is fermented with Lager yeast at Ale temperatures. It’s strikingly bitter, extra dry, and as light in color as possible from large additions of adjuncts in the grist bill. At the end of the day it’s basically a west coast IPA but dialed up to 11 in the areas that make west coast what it is. We made this beer with 60% pilsner malt and 40% flaked corn. The hops used were Motueka and a huge amount of Elani, a brand new hop. Grassy, bitter, with some citrus and floral notes make this beer ready to drink for any hop lover.

ABV: 7.5%

Who says traditional German lagers can’t be exciting!? As a rather obscure style, this is a beer that not many people outside of Germany have experienced. Well, it’s your lucky day, because we have this big boy serving right here in our taproom. It’s a very light, high alcohol beer with a slightly sweet and toasty note. This beer can be sneaky, and  if you’re not careful it’ll have you tapping S.O.S. to your friends.

ABV: 8.4%

Sour fruit beer with raspberry, coriander, and a touch of salt. This beer is a staff favorite and perfect for warmer weather.

ABV: 5.1%

A fairly straight forward beer base with simple grains to let the fruit shine. Then properly soured for two days to give it the right twang. Fermented with hazy ipa yeast to give it a fruity/tropical ferment character. And finally, we added egregious amounts of blueberry and mango toward the end to retain as much fruity goodness as possible. Sour, sweet, fruity, delicious!

ABV: 5.0%

One more sour for the roster! Made dry, sour, and then lightly fruited with pink guava. And, to add a little complexity, a touch of untoasted coconut pureé was added but not so much that you end up drinking sunscreen flavored beer. Subtly is the key to this beer and its supreme refreshment.

ABV: 5.5%

Iris is our newest delicate flower, and by flower we mean beer. A soft, pillowy, and pleasant hazy New England style Pale ale that makes use of US Mosaic hops blended with New Zealand Pacific Sunrise hops. This blend of hops makes for a flavor and aroma that brings about apricot, peach, and a little bit of dankness that makes for a refreshing lower alcohol option for hop lovers.

ABV: 4.7%

A German dark lager made with pils, caramalt, and chocolate malt. Then, just to upset tradition, we added dark sweet cherry puree. Just a little, not too much. Hints of tobacco and chocolate make for a rich beer with a light finish, enhanced by the slightly acid cherry zing, Bing will make you ask for another.

ABV: 4.7%

A new take on an old style. Moira is made with heaping amounts of house made caramel sugar, crystal malts, and roasty chocolate malts. The large amount of simple sugar help the beer to dry out a bit, which makes for a slightly boozy beer with a touch of sweetness and caramel sugar in the aroma.

ABV: 6.0%

An Italian style pilsner with a delicate malt character and a refreshingly crisp finish. A staff favorite! Most Italian pilsners are dry hopped. Ours isn’t. Dry hopping is great and all, but heavy kettle additions give a more refined and pleasant hop flavor/aroma that isn’t garnered by dry hopping (especially with “noble hops''). 100% Hallertau Mittlefrüh hops with 100% Epiphany Modern Pilsner malt.

ABV: 5.0%

It’s finally New England IPA season at GCB and we’re starting with a banger. Slightly more bitter than most Hazy’s, Cactus Chuck, is a little prickly, but we think you’ll like it. Made with only Cashmere hops in the boil to give it a smooth and full flavor profile. Then to throw it over the top we dry hopped with a large of combo of Mosaic, Strata, and Nelson Sauvin to give you the dankest fruit forward beer possible.

ABV: 6.5%

Dr. Dude is in the house! This classic West Coast style IPA is named after one of our favorite 90’s pinball machines in the taproom. El Dorado hops gives the backbone of this beer a tropical, hard candy like sweetness balanced by added Citra hops that highlight aromatic elements of grapefruit, lime, and pineapple.

ABV: 7.0%

Ahhhh yes, the original returns! The very first recipe brewed at Golden Cactus, G.C.O.G., is a crowd favorite. Made with a german weizen yeast (fermentis wb-06), this beer expresses all the phenolics that you would expect from the style. A heavy handed dose of Agave syrup is added toward the end of fermentation to make a very dry and slightly tart finish. Pair that with a higher than usual alcohol content, and it makes this beer a standout in an otherwise homogeneous style.

ABV: 7.0%

It’s sunny drive time! This beer takes you on a ride through the California faults while bursting with tangerine citrus fruits that gives you a dry, bitter, and fruity shake to your core. We used nothing but Cashmere throughout the boil, and then we threw in a silly amount of dry hops (4.7lbs/BBL) using Strata, Citra, Idaho 7, and more Cashmere. If you’re looking for a beer that will invade your senses, this is the beer for you.

ABV: 8.5%

This West Coast IPA is brewed with cascade and centennial hops giving it that “Classic C” hop character that’s reminiscent of craft brewing glory days from the 90’s (without all that sickly sweet crystal malt). Grapefruit flavor with a floral and evergreen aroma are backed up by a semi-firm bitterness that finishes clean and dry.

ABV: 7.0%

Belgian style saison, delicate and floral with notes of honeysuckle and clove.

ABV: 7.0%

This little light fellow has all the things necessary for your refreshment in the coming spring. The first thing you will notice is the delicate aroma of coriander mixed with the soothing scent of camomile flowers. If your sniffer is up to the challenge you may even get a whiff of lavender. With a flavor heavy on the citrus, drinking this beer definitely has a lemonade quality that allows for copious returns of slightly tart and quenching refreshment.

ABV: 4.7%

New England Hazy IPA, hop tubbed with Idaho 7 and whole-leaf hops.

ABV: 6.2%

Pale Ale, dank and hop forward with a lightly bitter and crisp finish

ABV: 5.2%

A “new to us” Belgian Blonde made with a spicier strain of yeast. More pronounced clove flavor dominate with just a tiny hint of typical belgian banana character. Named after and imitating Hey Arnold’s friend Helga, it’s on spicy blonde.

ABV: 5%

Saisons are usually all about yeast expression that comes from very high fermentation temps. But, for this saison, we decided to take it up a notch with some fruit- because why not? Subtly is the name of the game for this style, so, the guava additions were restrained. Don’t underestimate this beer though, it’ll give your beer boredom a run for its money.

ABV: 7%

Soured with zesty key limes and fresh orange peel this tart ale is sure to tickle your taste buds. The perfect companion for hot summer days, this beer displays an artful balance between tart fruit flavor and a dry mouthfeel.

ABV: 5%

A deceptively simple fruited beer, dosed with prodigious amounts of plum and ripe cherry. Slightly tart from fruit acidity, this beer delivers thirst smashing mouth puckers. You won’t regret ordering this on a hot summer day.

ABV: 5.5%

A throwback to the good ole days of beanie babies and lax airport security, this 90’s style amber is dry with subtle, but pleasant, caramel and a tiny amount of roast to satisfy the dark beer drinker while we wait for Fall season in the Blue Ridge.

ABV: 6%

In proper GC form we have yet another single hop IPA. With only Strata hops throughout, from kettle to dry hop, passion fruit says hi to cannabis in this satiating example of a brite citrus and dank West Coastness IPA (no cannabis was used in the making of this beer).

ABV: 7%

A West coast style IPA that’s been Hop Tubbed with 100% Chinook hops (Hop Tubbin’: our term for large amounts of whole leaf hops soaked in our copper coolship) this “Staff’s Pick” bursts with fresh pine, berries, and citrus to make this an absolute unit of a beer.

ABV: 7%

What a lovely example of an old fashioned (1990's) pale ale made relevant to today's tastes. Brewed with enormous amounts of Amarillo hops, but done so at hop stand temperatures (180 degrees or lower) in order to extract flavor and aroma without too much bitterness. Whole cone Amarillo was allowed to steep in our patent pending "Hop Tub" for over an hour to extract every drop of hoppy goodness resulting in a funkalicious beer with a huge citrusy lemony punch!

6% ABV

This New England IPA is made hazy, fruity, and with a very low bitterness. The descriptor juicy embodies this beer. Made with 100% Belma hops, fruits like strawberry and melon pop from the glass. If you like NEIPA this is not a beer to miss.

6.5% ABV

Saison light! Technically this style is called a Grisette, but is essentially a low ABV saison made for a refreshing and less intoxicating beverage. Made with the Saison DuPont yeast strain and 100% light pilsner malt the yeast does all the talking. Floral aromatics combine with fruity esters reminiscent of faint whiffs of bubble gum.

4.8% ABV

In the 1970's the brewers who made Märzen style Oktoberfest (a dark and slightly robust lager) decided they needed to stay relevant to modern taste, and started producing a lighter and more quaffable beer. The style that was born is called Festbier, and luckily for our customers we produce both styles of beer.

ABV: 5.5%

Ok, strange beer here, but bear with us. It may be kooky, but this kettle soured beer is dosed with all the pickle herbs that make for a strangely satiating good time. Coriander, Bay leaf, mustard seed, and a little salt are kettle additions on brew day. Shortly thereafter, it’s dry hopped with Sorachi Ace hops (silly but very Dilly). Even the pickle haters are pleasantly surprised by this one.

ABV: 5%