"The corn, barley and hops were all grown within one mile of each other in Olathe," AC Golden president Glenn Knippenberg says in a statement. "We brewed this lager to celebrate...all the men and women who work so hard in agriculture in the state."
See also: - Who's keeping local hop farmers in business? Is it AC Golden? - Slideshow: Hop Farming in Colorado - AC Golden's Checkpoint Charlie and five other Colorado-made Berliner weisses
AC Golden was founded in 2008 as a brand incubator for MillerCoors and is located inside its parent company's plant in Golden. Its primary commercial beer is Colorado Native, which is brewed with 100 percent Colorado-grown and -made products.
In fact, as we wrote in our September 2012 cover story "Is Everyone Hoppy," AC Golden buys 90 percent of the Colorado hops crop for Colorado Native.
Olathe lager, meanwhile, uses Crystal and Nugget hops from Misty Mountain Hops Farm, along with Charles two-row winter barley malt and Olathe sweet corn.
The label reads: "Whether it's fruits, vegetables, grains or hops, the fertile ground from Fruita to Palisade, and down to Montrose and from Paonia to Delta, produces world class agriculture. 'Home grown' is important to us. We're the brewers that brew Colorado Native Lager from ingredients grown only in Colorado. To celebrate the harvest season and the area's rich agriculture heritage, we brewed this golden lager as a tip of the hat to those who work the ground to feed us all."
Olathe is available on draft and in 750-ml bottles (only 1,440 were produced) in Delta, Cedaredge, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss, Montrose, Olathe, Palisade and Paonia.
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