Coors Brewery in Golden

I haven't visited Golden since my childhood doctor check-ups. So lets just say my memory of the place was very limited. I found the visitor parking lot for the Coors' tours a good 45 minutes before the meeting time with my coworkers. So I drove around this historic and cute town. Many of the buildings downtown are (or fashioned) to look like late nineteenth century architecture. The streets are narrow and the cyclist were out in force which made the drive a little stressful. But the town is beautiful and I'm looking forward to more Golden adventures the future.

Coors trip with the coworkers

The Coors' tour starts in the guest parking lot on 13th and Ford. From there a shuttle will pick patrons up and do a quick couple block tour of the town pointing out historical buildings.

One of my coworker's husband works at the brewery so we had our own little tour guide-- who really knew his stuff. We did the free tour--which is accompanied with an audio player that is easy to follow/use. At the door they scan in your ID and print of a wrist band with your name on it-- used for your three free drinks at the end. Coors offers another tour (the VIP tour) where you get orange vests and hard hat and you actually get to step on the floor with a personal tour guide.

Here are some facts about Coors:

• The Coors' Brewery was found in 1873 by Adolph Coors.

To date, Golden is the largest single-site brewery and is one of the only sites who malts their own grain and makes their aluminum cans on site.

Some Coors brands are- Blue Moon, Keystone Light, Killian's, and Zima.

Molson isn't created by Coors; however, Coors has a deal with Molson that Coors will distribute Molson in USA and Molson with distribute Coors in Canada.

Golden was picked for the brewery's site, because the most important ingredient in beer is water, and the water in the Rocky Mountains is superb.

Coors gained popularity during WWII because many of the solider did basic training near by and Coors provided them with beer. However, at that time Coors wasn't national yet so many of the soldiers went back home and couldn't get their new favorite beer.

• Coors and Miller merged together in 2008 the company is official known as MillerCoors.

Coors survived Prohibition by selling soda, makings of milkshakes, and other non-alcoholic drinks.

Coors invented the aluminum can (the cans before it changed the taste of the beer) and also start the recycling trend in the late 50's.

It takes approx. 55 days from start to finish to produce beer.

Beer has two fermenting stages.

Copper is used for the kettles because it doesn't throw off the beer's taste.

Coors creates it's own energy through a generator run off of water.

Coors recycles most of their materials. For example, used grain is reused in cattle feed.

Beer is like wine in the sense that light and heat ruins the quality.

train tracks are built around the plant so that trains can haul the beer.

Another thing that makes Coors remarkable is they actively seek out veterans to work for them. Roughly 25% of Coors working forces has served in the arm services at one time or another. Coors also is the only cooperation that has a memorial for all five arm services.

Overall, Coors Brewery is a fun and informative experience. The tour feels short (but that might be the group I was with wasn't really into listening to the whole audio player and just asked questions to our Coors worker that was with us. Aka they were ready to drink). And if you are planning on going out of your way to Golden you should plan on a couple other activities to fill the rest of the day. You definitely can't beat the price of free-- especially three free beers at the end, which can make anyone who appreciates beer very happy. The gift shop was well stocked and had items at an reasonable price. Although I don't know why you would bring children to this, it is family friendly with videos, hands on displays, and easy to follow path. Also at the end where the grow ups can get free beer they also have non-alcoholic drinks of water, soda, and lemonade. However, I think it would be hard for most children to get excited about and/or interested in this type of outting.