Try?
Re-buy?
Is the banquet
over for Coors? It doesn’t seem so, at least not in a business sense. Coors
has grown considerably over the past several decades, most recently into the
international market. It now has interests in the European market,
especially in Britain, where it now owns the Bass brand.
But what about back here in America? What about its core brand, now known as Coors Original? Brewed since 1873, Coors Original is famous for being brewed with Rocky Mountain spring water. Before 1991 when it was finally offered for sale nationwide, Coors beer was much sought after by beer drinkers around the country who could not get it on a regular basis. Much of this, I think, was a case of wanting what one could not have.
Still, through sales of Coors Original and Coors Light, the company has grown to be the third largest brewer in America, after Anheuser-Busch and Miller. In contrast to those brewers, who brew their beer around the country at various facilities, Coors for the longest time has produced all of their beer at one location, the nation’s largest single brewery in Golden, Colorado. Only recently was another plant added in Memphis, Tennessee, and then mainly for beers outside of the core brands.
For the purposes of this review, I downed two bottles of Coors Original. The first I allowed to warm slightly before decanting into my glass. Not quite to room temperature, mind you, but warm enough to allow the flavors to come through more fully. Drinking your beer ice cold tends to numb your taste buds so that you are not really able to fully taste it.
My first Coors Original pours to a pale golden color with a light
creamy head formation and a delicate malt nose. The palate is thin with a
light hint of malt but little else. There is a faint adjunct flavor of corn
here but not quite so much as I find in most beers of this style. The
moderating qualities of rice that are so prevalent in Budweiser are not to
be found here; nor is the green-apple acetaldehyde flavor for which the
latter is famous.
All the same, there isn’t much going on here, and I find perhaps less flavor overall in Coors Original than I do in Budweiser. To it’s credit, I don’t get as many adjunct notes either. There is certainly less flavor than you’ll find in Miller High Life, probably your best bet among the flagship brands of the three major brewers.
Finally, Coors finishes rather watery. I don’t get much in the way of hops, despite the fact that I let my glass warm before drinking; it warmed even more as I worked my way through the glass. Again, though, this is typical for a megabrewed light lager.
But wait, you say. Most people don’t drink their beer warm. They drink it ice cold. Fair point, I say. Therefore, I sample bottle number too ice cold. There is a difference, mainly that the adjunct flavors and the malt are less apparent. Instead, Coors Original is very smooth and I can see how one could drink a lot of it on a very hot day. But then the same could be said for water.
I remember Coors tasting better than this in the past. They used to call it “banquet beer”, but they don’t anymore. Now it’s just Coors Original. I guess the banquet is over, and I suspect that if Adolph Coors could taste his beer today, he would likely be disappointed with it. Judged against others of its ilk, this is an average beer at best.
But what about back here in America? What about its core brand, now known as Coors Original? Brewed since 1873, Coors Original is famous for being brewed with Rocky Mountain spring water. Before 1991 when it was finally offered for sale nationwide, Coors beer was much sought after by beer drinkers around the country who could not get it on a regular basis. Much of this, I think, was a case of wanting what one could not have.
Still, through sales of Coors Original and Coors Light, the company has grown to be the third largest brewer in America, after Anheuser-Busch and Miller. In contrast to those brewers, who brew their beer around the country at various facilities, Coors for the longest time has produced all of their beer at one location, the nation’s largest single brewery in Golden, Colorado. Only recently was another plant added in Memphis, Tennessee, and then mainly for beers outside of the core brands.
For the purposes of this review, I downed two bottles of Coors Original. The first I allowed to warm slightly before decanting into my glass. Not quite to room temperature, mind you, but warm enough to allow the flavors to come through more fully. Drinking your beer ice cold tends to numb your taste buds so that you are not really able to fully taste it.
My first Coors Original pours to a pale golden color with a light
creamy head formation and a delicate malt nose. The palate is thin with a
light hint of malt but little else. There is a faint adjunct flavor of corn
here but not quite so much as I find in most beers of this style. The
moderating qualities of rice that are so prevalent in Budweiser are not to
be found here; nor is the green-apple acetaldehyde flavor for which the
latter is famous. All the same, there isn’t much going on here, and I find perhaps less flavor overall in Coors Original than I do in Budweiser. To it’s credit, I don’t get as many adjunct notes either. There is certainly less flavor than you’ll find in Miller High Life, probably your best bet among the flagship brands of the three major brewers.
Finally, Coors finishes rather watery. I don’t get much in the way of hops, despite the fact that I let my glass warm before drinking; it warmed even more as I worked my way through the glass. Again, though, this is typical for a megabrewed light lager.
But wait, you say. Most people don’t drink their beer warm. They drink it ice cold. Fair point, I say. Therefore, I sample bottle number too ice cold. There is a difference, mainly that the adjunct flavors and the malt are less apparent. Instead, Coors Original is very smooth and I can see how one could drink a lot of it on a very hot day. But then the same could be said for water.
I remember Coors tasting better than this in the past. They used to call it “banquet beer”, but they don’t anymore. Now it’s just Coors Original. I guess the banquet is over, and I suspect that if Adolph Coors could taste his beer today, he would likely be disappointed with it. Judged against others of its ilk, this is an average beer at best.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
