The Coors-made beer comes with a good back story and an unusual marketing plan.
According to the company, there was a small flood in the basement of the Golden Coors plant where some of the company's memorabilia is kept. When that material was being moved, employees discovered an old log book with a recipe that dated to the days before 1919, when alcoholic beverages were outlawed in the United States.
A few years later, Coors brewer Keith Villa decided to see if he could round up some of the ingredients from that recipe, ingredients like Hersbrucker and Strisslespalt hops, which aren't really used today by brewers in this country.
After trying out the beer on employees (it's brewed in Golden), Coors released Batch 19 in Chicago, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and San Jose. It came to Denver this past May, and Denver quickly topped all markets in terms of sales, according to Tom Ryan, a spokesman for Tenth & Blake, a Coors subsidiary.
Two months ago, Coors began selling Batch 19 in bottles here, the second market in the country to get it. It is now sold in more than fifty bottle shops.
Prohibition, 504 East Colfax Avenue, will host its Repeal Day party tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. The Ginn Mill, 2041 Larimer Street, will do the same on Monday from 8 p.m. to midnight.
