Coors

Some weeks ago my ex-student and friend Takashi (たかし) came to visit me here in Denver. He is a student from Kanazawa university, who is currently doing a years study abroad in Boston.



Since I just live her, I was unsure at what exactly to do as a "tourist" in Denver. After lunch at a local Japanese restaurant, my inspiration had hit a dead end. Luckily, Matt came to the rescue with the idea of taking the totally free Coors Brewery tour in nearby Golden CO.



The Coors brewery is the largest single site brewery in the world, and the newly combined company of Molson-Coors provides beer all over North American and the United Kingdom. Interestingly enough, I had actually take the tour once before, when I was perhaps 10 years old! Neither Matt, Brian, nor Takashi had been lucky enough to previously see the wonders of the brewing process.





While the giant fermenting vats certainly hinted at the scale of the operation, what really drove it home was the packaging floor. To see just one tiny part of the assembly line shipping out a 36 pack of Coors Light every second or so was amazing. The sheer volume of beer was indeed a bit humbling, and it gave one a powerful thirst...



Luckily for us that thirst was quenched, for at the end of the tour we could try, fresh from the freshest beer tap ever, three 8 oz samples of the various Molson-Coors products. As I recall, I sampled Molson, Killian's Irish Red, and Blue Moon Wheat Beer, having already had a draught of raw, super fresh Original Coors while on the tour.



We all had a fantastic time, and learned a new respect for Coors, but I think I'll still stick with micro brewed beer, when at all possible.