In article , wrote:

Little Green Eyed Dragon wrote:
In article ,
wrote:

Killians *before* Coors? In the US? The George Killian Lett Brewery in
Ireland closed in the 1950's and was contract-brewed in France by
Pelforth (tho' I never heard of it imported in the US) before Coors also
got the rights to brew it (they later changed it from an ale to a lager,


I believe this is where my experience came in, at some point the taste
of it dramatically changed As for when Coors took over, I remember
drinking this beer with my oldest brother, back when I was still 17-18
years old ? 1982?. He told me the beer was new and being test marketed
in this country, nothing on the bottle said Coor's unlike at a later
point in time- but that was many bottles ago

Coors introduced it's Geo. Killians Irish Red Ale in 1982, so the timing
is right. I don't know what it said on the label at that time, but
"dba" ("doing business as") fake brewery names have been used in the
industry for decades, especially when a brewery is closed and it's
brand(s) is sold. Before the microbrewery boom, very few cities had
more than one brewery, so it was usually easy for the knowledgable
drinker to figure out who made what (beer can collectors were especially
adept at that).

At some point, the feds loosened the rules about "brewery location" on
the label, so it's a bit more difficult nowadays. Killian's no doubt
said "Golden, CO" on the label, so that would have been enough to make
it Coors, altho' they have used "Denver" (where they have a
microbrewery) on some beers since then, IIRC. The most well-known dba
being used today is probably Miller's "Plank Road Brewery" for some of
it's lesser brands.
(IIRC, some of the old Falstaff brands listed a PO box on it's labels
after they were folded into Pabst by the parent company, S&P. A PO
Box? Now THAT is a microbrewery!)

Coors changed the formula, lowered the alcohol content and changed the
label to read "Lager" (in very small letters) from "Ale" in 1988.
(There was also a George Killian's Irish Brown Ale for a time, too, but
I don't remember that at all).

Thanks for the most interesting insights- I have no arguments

--
Would thou choose to meet a rat eating dragon, or
a dragon, eating rat? The answer of: I am somewhere
in the middle. "Me who is part taoist and part Christian".

Little Green Eyed Dragon wrote:

In article , wrote:


Coors introduced it's Geo. Killians Irish Red Ale in 1982, so the timing
is right.

Thanks for the most interesting insights- I have no arguments


Here's an interesting development. Coors, of course, is now a
multi-national brewer, with the purchase of the Bass breweries in UK
(but NOT the Bass brand) and the recent merger with Molson- technically
the company is now "MolsonCoors".

The merger with Molson allowed them to close the old Schlitz/Stroh
brewery they had in Memphis (which brewed a number of their "other"
brands like Zima & Extra Gold) before the Virginia facility had a
brewery (which they're in the process of building- previously it only
"prepared" [added water to high gravity beer] and packaged beers from
Golden), since Molson has several breweries that are close to East Coast
markets. AND, it also allows the company to say "IMPORTED" on the
label. (Lots of "imports" of international brands in the US are
actually only imported across the border- like "Australian" Fosters,
"Irish" Guinness Extra Stout, "Japanese" Saporo, etc.) I think some of
the Blue Moon brands are already being brewed in Canada and Killians
would be a natural.