Coors is beer. Yet, for a few decades, its main product was targeted to babies. When Prohibition came to Colorado on New Year’s Day, 1916, Coors was forced to pour its entire stock of beer into Clear Creek – seventeen thousand gallons in all. Unable to brew, Coors could close down, or it could adapt.
Well they had lots of malted barley, and their brewing equipment could easily be converted to producing malted milk powder. So they did, and advertised their malted milk as “the best food for infants…next to mother’s milk.” Lightly sweet, no refrigeration needed – malted milk powder was a staple in soda shops and bakeries, and in candy. Adolph Coors Jr. struck a deal to be the main supplier to the Mars Candy Company, a move that saved the brewery in time for the end of Prohibition in ‘33. Coors went back to brewing beer in Golden, but continued to make malted milk powder well into the fifties.
About Colorado Postcards
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado.
