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{{short description|American brewery and beer company}}
{{Lead too short|date=June 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Coors Brewing Company
| logo = Coors logo.svg
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| genre = 
| fate = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1873}}
| founder = [[Adolph Coors]]<br />and [[Jacob Schueler]]
| defunct = 
| location_city = [[Golden, Colorado]]
| location_country = United States
| location = 
| locations = 
| area_served = 
| key_people = 
| industry = Beverages
| products = [[Beer]]
| services = 
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| aum = 
| assets = 
| equity = 
| owner = 
| num_employees = 
| parent = [[Molson Coors]]
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| homepage = {{URL|coors.com}}
| footnotes = 
| intl = 
}}

The '''Coors Brewing Company''' is an American [[brewery]] and beer company based in [[Golden, Colorado]]. Founded in 1873 by [[Adolph Coors]] and [[Jacob Schueler]], it is a subsidiary of [[Molson Coors]].<ref>{{cite web |date = July 22, 2004 |url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/molson-announces-6b-us-merger-deal-with-coors-1.517665 |title = Molson announces $6B US merger deal with Coors |publisher = CBC |access-date = October 10, 2020}}</ref> The first Coors brewery in Golden is the largest single brewery operating in the world.<ref name="Oliver266">{{cite book |author = Garrett Oliver |title = The Oxford Companion to Beer |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gYVLHMmplRcC&pg=PA266 |date = September 9, 2011 |publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn = 978-0-19-536713-3 |page = 266 }}</ref>

== History ==

=== Founding ===
In 1873, German immigrants [[Adolph Coors]] and [[Jacob Schueler]] from [[Prussia]] immigrated to the United States and established a [[brewery]] in what was then Golden City, [[Colorado Territory]] (now [[Golden, Colorado]]), after buying a recipe for a [[Pilsner]]-style beer from a Czech immigrant, William Silhan.<ref>{{cite web |date = December 12, 2014 |url = http://www.historycolorado.org/content/beer-here-local-history-brewing-history-colorado |title = Beer Here! A Local History of Brewing at History Colorado |publisher = History Colorado |access-date = June 9, 2015 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150605081309/http://www.historycolorado.org/content/beer-here-local-history-brewing-history-colorado |archive-date = June 5, 2015 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> Coors invested $2,000 in the operation, and Schueler invested $18,000. [[File: "ADOLF COORS GOLDEN BREWERY" June 1911 map detail, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. LOC sanborn01005 006-11 (cropped).jpg|thumb| "ADOLPH COORS GOLDEN BREWERY" June 1911 map detail from Sanborn Fire Insurance Map]] In 1880, Coors bought out his partner and became the sole owner of the brewery.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

=== Prohibition ===
[[File:Coors malted milk ad.png|thumb|right|upright|Ad for Coors [[malted milk|Malted Milk]], produced in 1918]]

The Coors Brewing Company managed to survive [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] relatively intact. Years before the [[Volstead Act]] went into effect nationwide, Adolph Coors established the Adolph Coors Brewing and Manufacturing Company, which included [[CoorsTek |Herold Porcelain]] and other ventures, with sons Adolph Jr., Grover and Herman. The brewery itself was converted into a [[malted milk]] and [[Low-alcohol beer|near beer]] production facility. Coors sold much of the malted milk to the [[Mars, Incorporated|Mars]] candy company to produce sweets. Manna, the company's non-alcoholic beer replacement, was a near-beer similar to current non-alcoholic beverages. However, Coors and his sons relied heavily on the porcelain company and a cement and real estate company to keep the Coors Brewing Company afloat. By 1933, after the end of Prohibition, the Coors brewery was one of only a handful of breweries that had survived.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Klein|first=Christopher|title=How America's Iconic Brewers Survived Prohibition|url=https://www.history.com/news/brewers-under-prohibition-miller-coors-busch-yuengling-pabst|access-date=2021-07-03|website=HISTORY|date=January 30, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

All of the non-brewery assets of the Adolph Coors Company were spun off between 1989 and 1992. The descendant of the original Herold Porcelain ceramics business continues to operate as [[CoorsTek]].<ref>{{cite web |title = History of CoorsTek |url = http://www.coorstek.com/history.asp |access-date = May 19, 2009 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090817143619/http://www.coorstek.com/history.asp |archive-date = August 17, 2009 |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

=== Products ===
For much of its first 100 years of existence, Coors beer was marketed solely in the [[Western United States|American West]].<ref name=bplspok>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0B4jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xvgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2174%2C3162303 |newspaper = Spokane Daily Chronicle |title = Brewer plans Spokane plant |date = December 27, 1975 |page = 3.}}</ref><ref name=cpbrexp>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-0wyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1787%2C254410 |newspaper = Lawrence Journal-World |location = Kansas |title = Coors plans beer sales expansion |agency = Associated Press |date = August 2, 1977 |page = 8 }}</ref><ref name=kpsitcl>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qhRWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B-IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4949%2C76665 |newspaper = Eugene Register-Guard |location = Oregon |title = Beer keeps its cool but raises hot issue |last = Stahlberg |first = Mike |date = December 1, 1978 |page = 1B }}</ref> While [[California]] and [[Texas]] were part of the 11-state distribution area, [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[Montana]] were not added until 1976<ref name=bplspok /><ref name=add2momt>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uz5PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6869%2C3940352 |newspaper = [[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|The Blade]] |location = Toledo, Ohio |last = Lazarus |first = George |agency = KNS |title = Coor's beer adds two more states to market area |date = September 28, 1976 |page = 31 }}</ref> ([[Oregon]] did not approve sales in grocery stores until 1985).<ref name=alasact>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fOdVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VuEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6256%2C195249 |newspaper = Eugene Register-Guard |location = Oregon |title = Alas, another Coors tale |agency = (editorial) |date = October 2, 1984 |page = 10A }}</ref><ref name=csupose>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jYVUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LI8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2900%2C904948 |newspaper = Ellensburg Daily Record |location = Washington |agency = UPI |title = Coors steps up Oregon sales effort |date = October 5, 1984 |page = 9 }}</ref><ref name=cmatfrs>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CK1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6732%2C2367789 |newspaper = Eugene Register-Guard |location = Oregon |title = Coors making another try for retail sales in Oregon |last = Detzel |first = Tom |date = April 11, 1985 |page = 12D }}</ref><ref name=croio>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W-5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g-EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4611%2C5148732 |newspaper = Eugene Register-Guard |location = Oregon |title = Coors rolls out in Oregon |date = July 23, 1985 |page = 5A }}</ref> This gave it mystique and made it a novelty, particularly on the East Coast,<ref name=cafrcrggy>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=svgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SCMIAAAAIBAJ&pg=4378%2C4555519 |newspaper = Bangor Daily News |last = Mills |first = Dennis |title = Cold Coors arrives from craggy Rockies |date = August 14, 1975 |page = 21 }}</ref><ref name=sccrbr>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8ORLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=A4sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6763%2C2903203 |newspaper = Free Lance-Star |location = Fredericksburg, Virginia |title = The strange case of the Coors beer |last = Greene |first = Bob |agency = Field Newspaper Syndicate |date = June 22, 1977 |page = 2 }}</ref> and visitors returning from the western states often brought back a case.<ref name=chmys>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MEdNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8voDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5443%2C3066611 |newspaper = Lakeland Ledger |location = Florida |title = Coors has mystique |agency = (New York Times) |date = March 12, 1975 |page = 7B }}</ref> This iconic status was reflected in the 1977 film ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]''. The company finally established nationwide distribution in the United States in 1986.<ref name=cgampdr>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Eq9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9W0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4142%2C839228 |newspaper = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |title = Coors goes after more Pennsylvania beer drinkers |last = Gallagher |first = Jim |date = April 5, 1988 |page = 18 }}</ref> 

In 1959, Coors became the first American brewer to use an all-[[aluminum]] two-piece [[beverage can]].<ref name="Oliver266" /> Also in 1959, the company abandoned [[pasteurization]] and began to use [[sterile filtration]] to stabilize its beer.<ref name=" Oliver266"/><ref name=cafrcrggy /> Coors currently operates the largest [[aluminum can]] producing plant in the world, known as the Rocky Mountain Metal Container (RMMC), in Golden. RMMC is a joint venture between [[Ball Corporation|Ball Metal]] and Coors, having been founded in 2003.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In the mid-1970s, Coors invented the litter-free push tab can,<ref name=cafrcrggy/><ref name=presstb>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LahfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XzIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2657%2C8150347 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=(advertisement) |title=Press-Tab |date=December 21, 1976 |page=8B}}</ref> in place of the ring pull-tab.<ref name=ptcget>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pDAcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rlkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3915%2C2555046 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |agency=(''Chicago Daily News'' Service) |title = Pull-tab cans get heave-ho |date=October 6, 1975 |page=17}}</ref><ref name=poptoplose>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G-EjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fSkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1664%2C5732868 |newspaper = Milwaukee Journal |last = Hayes |first = Paul G. |title = Poptop cans will lose their pull, expert says |date = October 19, 1977 |page = 1 |access-date = October 26, 2015 |archive-date = May 15, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160515155321/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G-EjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fSkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1664,5732868 |url-status = dead }}</ref> However, consumers disliked the top and it was discontinued soon afterward.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

[[Coors Light]] was introduced in 1978.<ref name=" Oliver266"/> The longtime slogan of "Silver Bullet" to describe it does not describe the beer, but rather the silver-colored can in which Coors packaged the beer. Coors once produced Coors Light in "yellow-bellied" cans like the full-strength Coors. However, when the yellow coloring was removed, the can was left mostly silver.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

{{multiple image|direction=vertical
| image1 = Coorsgoldencityscape.jpg
| image2 = CoorsbrewerygoldenCO.jpg
| footer = Coors brewery in [[Golden, Colorado]]
}}

=== Mergers ===
On July 22, 2004, the Adolph Coors Company, the [[holding company]] that owned Coors Brewing, announced it would be merging with Canadian brewing company [[Molson]], Inc. The merger was completed February 9, 2005, with the merged company being named [[Molson Coors Brewing Company]].<ref>{{cite web |date = July 22, 2004 |url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/molson-announces-6b-us-merger-deal-with-coors-1.517665 |title = Molson announces $6B US merger deal with Coors |publisher = CBC |access-date = October 10, 2020}}</ref> Coors Brewing Company became a subsidiary of the new company. Due to the merger, [[Molson Coors]] was rated the third largest producer of [[beer in the United States]], and the second largest brewer in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.molsoncoors.com/fact/index.html |title = Fact Sheet |date = 2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071027064623/http://www.molsoncoors.com/fact/index.html |archive-date = October 27, 2007 |publisher = Molson Coors Brewing Company }}</ref>

==Brands==
{{main|List of Molson Coors brands}}

Coors is responsible for promoting and distributing several alcoholic beverage brands. The most notable of those brands are Coors Banquet, [[Coors Light]], [[Blue Moon (beer)|Blue Moon]], [[Keystone (beer brand)|Keystone]], and [[Miller Brewing Company|Miller]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

== Controversies ==
{{Main|Coors strike and boycott}}

=== Labor problems ===
In April 1977, the brewery workers union at Coors, representing 1,472 employees, went on strike. The brewery kept operating with supervisors and 250 to 300 union members, including one union executive board member who ignored the strike. Soon after, Coors announced that it would hire replacements for the striking workers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Adolph Coors Company (A) |work=Business Case, [[Tuck School of Business]], [[Dartmouth College]] |url=http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pdf/2001-1-0027.pdf |access-date=April 24, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060527021956/http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pdf/2001-1-0027.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2006 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> About 700 workers quit the picket line to go back to work, and Coors replaced the remaining 500 workers, keeping the beer production process uninterrupted.<ref>Dana Parsons, "Why did strikers return?", "The Denver Post", October 3, 1979, p. 3.</ref> In December 1978, the workers at Coors voted by greater than a two-to-one ratio to decertify the union, ending 44 years of union representation at Coors. Because the strike was more than a year old, striking workers could not vote in the election.<ref>Karen Newman, "Coors workers reject union by big margin", ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'' (Denver), December 15, 1978, p. 1.</ref>

Labor unions organized a boycott to punish Coors for its labor practices.<ref>[[Molly Ivins]], [https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/28/archives/union-at-coors-may-be-broken-but-it-hasnt-halted-its-boycott-end-of.html?login=email "Union at Coors May Be Broken But It Hasn't Halted Its Boycott"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806152838/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?login=email&res=9C05EFDF1539E732A2575BC2A9639C946890D6CF |date=August 6, 2016}}, "[[The New York Times]]", May 28, 1979, p. A7</ref> One tactic employed by the unions was a push for states to pass laws banning the sale of unpasteurized canned and bottled beer.<ref>"Coors union backing Calif. beer roadblock", ''The Denver Post'', December 5, 1977.</ref> Because Coors was the only major brewer at the time not pasteurizing its canned and bottled beer, such laws would hurt only Coors.<ref> "Bill before Missouri legislature would ban Coors", "The Denver Post" November 2, 1984.</ref> Sales of Coors suffered during the decade-long labor union boycott. However, Coors claimed that declining sales were also due to an industry-wide downturn in beer sales and increased competition. To maintain production, Coors expanded its sales area from the 18 western states to which it had marketed for years to nationwide distribution.<ref>Bartell Nyberg, "Coors brewing for long-term survival", ''[[The Denver Post]]'', February 22, 1987, p. 1G.</ref> This was completed in 1991, with Indiana being the last state for the brand to appear.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-C2qqmCrU&channel=ronaldtheriot Louisiana Beer Reviews: Coors Banquet Beer Revisited (bottled version)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104214619/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-C2qqmCrU&channel=ronaldtheriot |date=January 4, 2016}}</ref>

The [[AFL–CIO]] ended its boycott of Coors in August 1987, after negotiations with [[Pete Coors]], head of brewery operations. The settlement details were not divulged but were said to include an early union representation election in Colorado and the use of union workers to build the new Coors brewery in Virginia.<ref>"AFL-CIO ends 10-year Coors boycott", ''The Denver Post'', August 19, 1987.</ref>

In 1988, the [[Teamsters Union]], which represented brewery workers at the top three U.S. beer makers at the time ([[Anheuser-Busch]], [[Miller Brewing Company|Miller]], and [[Stroh Brewery Company|Stroh]]), gained enough signatures to trigger a union representation election inside the Coors company. Coors workers again rejected union representation by more than a two-to-one ratio.<ref>Jeffrey Leib, "Coors workers reject union", ''[[The Denver Post]]'', December 16, 1988, p. 1A.</ref>

=== Minority issues ===
Mexican Americans charged Coors with discriminatory hiring practices following the passage of the Civil Rights Act. They launched a boycott of the company's products beginning in the late 1960s. Labor unions and gay rights activists joined the boycott, which lasted into the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |title = Freedom is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace |last = MacLean |first = Nancy |publisher = Harvard University Press |year = 2006 |pages = 177–179 }}</ref>

A federal lawsuit in 1975 by the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]]<ref name=coklaid>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qEdNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4foDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6072%2C7406975 |newspaper = Lakeland Ledger |location = Florida |title = Is it beer or 'Colorado Kool-Aid'? |last = Lichtenstein |first = Grace |agency = (New York Times) |date = December 28, 1975 |page = 7D }}</ref> ended in a settlement with Coors agreeing not to discriminate against blacks, Hispanics, and women.<ref>{{cite web |title = Adolph Coors Company (A) |work = Business Case, [[Tuck School of Business]], [[Dartmouth College]] |url = http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pdf/2001-1-0027.pdf |access-date = April 24, 2006 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060527021956/http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pdf/2001-1-0027.pdf |archive-date = May 27, 2006 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> In 1977, Coors was accused of firing gay and lesbian employees.<ref>{{cite journal |title = The Dynamics of Brand Legitimacy: An Interpretive Study in the Gay Men's Community ([[PDF]]) |journal = Journal of Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press |jstor = 10 |volume = 16 |pages = 670–675 }}</ref> From the late 1970s, Coors agreed not to discriminate against homosexuals; the first major brewery in the United States to make such a commitment.<ref name="Baum2001">{{cite book|author=Dan Baum|title=Citizen Coors: A Grand Family Saga of Business, Politics, and Beer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZRBQ24lXZ8C|date=10 April 2001|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-095946-3|page=205}}</ref>

Coors encouraged the organization of its gay and lesbian employees into the Lesbian and Gay Employee Resource (LAGER) in 1993.<ref>Justin Berton, "The other Coors spokesman", [[Westword]] (Denver) September 2, 1999, p. 28.</ref> In May 1995, Coors became the 21st publicly traded corporation in the United States to extend employee benefits to same-sex partners.<ref>Michael Booth, "Coors adds 'partners' to benefits", ''[[The Denver Post]]'', July 8, 1995, p. 1A.</ref> When company chairman [[Pete Coors]] was criticized for the company's gay-friendly policy during his 2004 Republican primary campaign for a United States Senate seat from Colorado, he defended the policy as a basic good business practice.<ref>John C. Green, Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3YhlzY3eQIgC&dq=coors+gay+%22good+business%22&pg=PA189 "The Values Campaign?"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502123253/https://books.google.com/books?id=3YhlzY3eQIgC&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=coors+gay+%22good+business%22&source=bl&ots=7UL9Rc0pqT&sig=Se8kKJjMdJJ0zGiKGjc_IDpMfVE&hl=en&ei=G-M7S8PZLKimtgeBp-GNCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=coors%20gay%20%22good%20business%22&f=false |date=May 2, 2016 }} Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, p. 185.</ref> 

== In popular culture ==
The 1977 film ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]'' centers on an illegal shipment of Coors from [[Texas]] to [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In 2014, Coors (as [[MillerCoors]]) entered a contract with [[FX (TV channel)|FX Networks]], the producer of TV shows such as ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flint |first=Joe |date=2014-04-23 |title=FX Networks brews up sponsorship deal with MillerCoors |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-fx-coors-201 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=2021-06-21}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Since season six of the show all beer in Paddy's Pub is Coors and the bar has Coors signs and logos scattered throughout it.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

==See also==
{{portal|Companies|Beer|United States|Colorado}}
* [[Coors Light]]
* [[Molson Coors Beverage Company]]
{{clear}}

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* Baum, Dan. ''Citizen Coors: A Grand Family Saga of Business, Politics, and Beer''. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. {{ISBN|0-688-15448-4}}
* Brantley, Allyson P. ''Brewing a Boycott: How a Grassroots Coalition Fought Coors and Remade American Consumer Activism'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2021).

== External links ==
{{sister project links|auto=yes}}
* [http://www.coorsfinelight.com/ Coors Light]
* [http://www.millercoors.com/ MillerCoors](USA)

{{Molson Coors Beverage Company}}
{{SABMiller}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:American beer brands]]
[[Category:Breweries in the United States]]
[[Category:Beer brewing companies based in Colorado]]
[[Category:Companies based in Golden, Colorado]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies established in 1873]]
[[Category:Molson Coors Beverage Company]]
[[Category:Rockingham County, Virginia]]