The Coors Golden Brewery

By Todd Moning
FMCA.com editor

Hops, barley, and barrels and barrels of fresh, malted beverages. Norm would love this.

Norm, the beer-focused character played by George Wendt on the TV series "Cheers," probably would love the tasting area the most. But the Coors Brewing Company’s Golden Brewery also appeals to  those interested in the process of making beer.

In the Rockies
You've seen the ads for Coors Original, the beer that’s closest to Adolph Coors’ first brew in 1873: …made with natural ingredients and cool Rocky Mountain water. Now venture 20 minutes west of Denver for a behind-the-scenes look at the malting, brewing and packaging of Coors products.

The Coors Golden Brewery, located in the city of Golden, high in Colorado's snow-capped Rocky Mountains, offers free walking tours year-round Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Mountain time).

Shuttle through Golden
Plenty of free parking, including spaces for motorhomes, is available in the Coors visitor parking lot located at 13th and Ford streets.

Take a free, eight-minute shuttle bus ride through Golden to the brewery while learning about the history of Golden and the Coors Golden Brewery. The shuttles hold approximately 25 guests.

The Coors Golden Brewery is the world's largest single-site brewery, producing about 1˝ to 2 million barrels of brew per day. It lies on about 2,000 acres; a canning plant and power plant are among the other facilities on the premises, along with the original Coors family residence and greenhouse. Coors employs about 5,400 people in the United States and 3,100 in the United Kingdom.

Tour, free samples
The shuttle bus drops off guests in front of the brewery. Inside, they divide into smaller tour groups. Tours run continuously and depart every 20 to 30 minutes.

Brew kettles inside the brew house date back to 1930s, but newer, state-of-the-art brew lines also are used. All of the copper kettles that hold Coors brews are partially handmade and imported from Germany. Artisans hand-hammer the kettles to the exact thickness Coors requires.

The tour concludes in a hospitality area that resembles a bar. Guests  —  age 21 or older — are welcome to consume up to three 7-ounce samples of Coors products. Non alcoholic beverages are also available.

Coors also brews Killian's Irish Red beer in Golden; Blue Moon Belgian White Ale in both Denver and Memphis, Tenn.; as well as  Zima XXX, three flavored malt beverages also brewed in Memphis. In addition to the United States, Coors products are available in more than 30 international markets.

More details
The tour takes approximately 35 minutes and includes some stairs. All ages are welcome, visitors 18 and under must be accompanied by an adult, and a photo ID is required for those 21 and older who wish to sample products.

Allow one hour to 90 minutes for your visit. The facility also has a gift shop, Coors and Co., which offers an array of Coors merchandise such as glassware, clothing, cookbooks and souvenirs. You can also shop online at www.coorsandco.com.

Summer is the busiest time for tours, when about 1,500 to 2,000 visitors per day pass through. For more tour info, call (303) 277-BEER.

Coors' Memphis Brewery in Memphis, Tenn., also offers free tours. Call (901) 368-BEER for info.

Other area attractions
Travelers also might want to consider stopping at two other Golden attractions, both located off Interstate 70. The Colorado Railroad Museum, 12 miles west of Denver, displays more than 70 historic narrow- and standard-gauge locomotives and rail cars, at 17155 W. 44th Ave.

The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, about 25 minutes west of Denver on Lookout Mountain, honors showman, Army scout and buffalo hunter William F. Cody.

Coors
www.coors.com

Colorado Railroad Museum
www.crrm.org

Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
www.buffalobill.org