Growing up in Golden

I grew up in Golden. My family moved here in 1978. I went to all the public schools in Golden, and I went to the Colorado School of Mines.

I studied chemical engineering at Mines. After I graduated, I worked in the semiconductor industry in Dallas. It was process and product development for manufacturing computer chips. It was a lot of fun. Very high-tech. A lot of interesting challenges.

A team of toads

I came back to Golden in 2012 to start up Mountain Toad Brewing. This is a fun and collaborative industry. It’s a nice way to add to the community in Golden.

I’m the main brewer, but we’re a team here. Everybody on the team contributes in important ways — from the brew house to the front-of-the-house servers.

Enjoying the brews

I did some home-brewing in college, but I really started on recipe development when the Mountain Toad opened.

Style-wise, the IPA is a favorite among our guests.

The brew that I’m enjoying the most right now is the Black Lemon Saison. We brewed it for the hot days of summer, so it’s refreshing and it uses interesting ingredients. The black lemon is a sun-dried lime, so it gives it a tart, crisp flavor.

Important people

People always ask how we got the name Mountain Toad. There’s two things. It represents the environment and the active lifestyle in Golden. And, we also liked the idea of the toad being an indicator species. It means that if the toads are thriving, then their environment is healthy.

As an industry, we’re not a bar, we’re a brewery. What we do is a craft. It’s the craft beer industry. We can only sell the beer that we make. Our guests get a unique experience.

Mountain Toad is a community place. You can come here and meet with friends, or meet new people. The people are just as important as the beer. We enjoy that people come here and enjoy themselves.

Written by Christy Steadman. If you have suggestions for My Name Is . . ., contact her at csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com.