9/16/2022
I made reservations a week or so ago to take a tour of the Coors Brewery so I was on a bit of a timeline today. I checked out Breckenridge, CO in the morning and went to the original Breckenridge Brewing brewery. I got to try a bunch of the beers that they don’t distribute. The city was really cute, but definitely a tourist trap for skiing.
I stopped at the Visitors Center in Georgetown, CO on I-80 for gas, a bathroom break, and lunch. This was a mistake. I looked at my GPS and of course there was a crash that was slowing traffic for a half hour. I hate I-80. People are stupid and terrible through here. I got to Golden, CO and the Coors factory with five minutes to spare before my tour started.
I hopped on the shuttle to the factory and the drive pointed out some stuff about the city. When we arrived they led us to the entrance to get wristbands. I was first in line, got my wristband, and made way for the rest of the group. I was promptly shuttled away from my group to an elevator to go who knows where. I found myself at the tasting room. I figured this is where the tour started. I got a beer and waited. I finished my beer and my group wasn’t here yet. I asked one of the people working and they discovered I was given the wrong wristband. They gave me the “tasting room only wristband.” The lady apologized and got me caught up with my group. I didn’t miss much, just a video and talking about the grains.
Once I got back with my group we were showed the mash tuns where the grains are turned into sugars and proteins. I found out later that this was the only part of the brewing process that we actually get to see.
We walked by the lab next. This is where all of the quality control is done.
The next room we stopped in, they gave us another beer. I picked Coors Banquet. They started the history lesson here.
We went to the packaging area next. This was interesting, it all went so fast.
Next, they sent us into the tasting room and on our way. We were able to get another beer here and look at more brewery history. In all I was able to try Coors Banquet, Coors Light Ultra Cold, and Batch 19 Bock. The Batch 19 was really good. I would not recommend this tour to anyone. The Budweiser brewery tour was so much better as far as macro breweries go.
I stopped at the gift shop before leaving and got a t-shirt, 12 pack of Colorado only beer, a sticker, and they threw in some pins and a bottle opener. On the shuttle back to the parking lot they handed out “Golden Tickets.” These were redeemable at a bunch of different places in the city. After the tour I walked around Golden, CO for a few hours doing one of the scavenger hunts.
