Anyone remember "smuggling" Coors?

Back when I was in college (or was it high school?) Coors beer was not distributed nationally and it was not generally available in the midwest. Somehow, though, the stuff was legendary around here and people would go out there and bring back cases of the stuff. People talked about it like it was some sort of nectar of the gods or something.

Later, when they decided to distribute it here and it was readily available, it seems as though people tried it and decided there was no big deal about it. In fact, I don't think I know of anyone I know who even likes the stuff. Apparently it was valued only because it once was hard to get.

mmditter said:

Back when I was in college (or was it high school?) Coors beer was not distributed nationally and it was not generally available in the midwest. Somehow, though, the stuff was legendary around here and people would go out there and bring back cases of the stuff. People talked about it like it was some sort of nectar of the gods or something.

Later, when they decided to distribute it here and it was readily available, it seems as though people tried it and decided there was no big deal about it. In fact, I don't think I know of anyone I know who even likes the stuff. Apparently it was valued only because it once was hard to get.

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Yes sir!




I have also heard of people smuggling Lone Star beer.... lol

mmditter said:

I don't think I know of anyone I know who even likes the stuff.

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Coors is my father's beer of choice.
This apple fell far from the tree.

-walker

I was talking to someone about that very thing just the other day ... It was like a prized possessions now who cares. Also, am I crazy or didn't coors have a unique flip top? That was in the time of the old pull tabs on cans.
Jimi

When "pop-tops" first came out there were a lot of styles, including the "two-buttons, cut your finger off version". I don't Curs had anything special. In college, I knew a few people that drove to "Curs Kuntry" and brought back trunkloads. Impressive when you consider I went to Cornell U. in Ithaca, NY and Curs wasn't available east of the Old Miss'.

JimiGibbs said:

I was talking to someone about that very thing just the other day ... It was like a prized possessions now who cares. Also, am I crazy or didn't coors have a unique flip top? That was in the time of the old pull tabs on cans.
Jimi

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I don't know about the unique flip-top. But while searching eBay and Google, I found these unique tops! Thought I would share:


"The Coors Light Twins can make red carpet couture out of anything" ...

"Life is too short to date yellow-haired frizzy women".

david_42 said:

"Life is too short to date yellow-haired frizzy women".

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who said you have to date them????

Lounge Lizard said:

"The Coors Light Twins can make red carpet couture out of anything" ...

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The photo doesn't show the line up of politicians fighting over who will do the ribbon cutting.

Personally those two remind me of coors light. All fizz, a bit stale and very little body.

Hey, do they still make the regular Coors? Or was it not bland enough?

I remember those days! After you finally had your first Coors, you were pretty let down by the watery taste. It was the whole 'make something hard to get and the perceived value goes up' thing.

Back in the 1970's you could buy Strohs only here in the midwest. I remember that back then Strohs ran a pretty funny TV commercial featuring a guy at an airport taking a flight back to Colorado. His suitcase accidently comes open as he's walking to the ticket counter and it is filled with cans of Strohs he's trying to 'smuggle' back.

I'm too young for the Coors smuggling days but I've heard my parents talk about it. They went to college in southern Oregon and the best beer available locally was Oly so they'd routinely make trips south of the border to Cali to buy a bunch of Coors.

Of the big three - Bud, Miller, Coors - I prefer Coors when drinking cheap beer. It might be all in my head, but it seems to have more flavor than the other two. For light beer, conversely, I think Bud Light has more flavor than Coors Light. I pretty much avoid Miller whenever possible.

AHU

Arguing about beer sure is fun! For everyone like me who would rather drink p*ss than Bud there is at least one other person out there who thinks Bud is God's gift to mankind.

I still can't understand what they like about that stuff, though. I really strongly suspect, though, that it's the lack of flavor that makes it popular.

If you think about other mass-marketed products, they tend over time to "dumb" down the flavor of their products to make them more popular. Take Hunt's ketchup for instance. It used to have a really tangy, zesty taste. Almost spicy. It was very distinct, though, from other ketchups. Not any more. Now it tastes almost exactly like Heinz.

In Wisconsin Jack's is a big brand for frozen pizza. The sauce on their pizzas used to have a strong peppery flavor, again, distinct from other brands. Now their sauce is mild and bland and no different from any other brand of frozen pizza.

With mass-marketed beer, the more flavor the more chance people won't like the flavor.

mmditter said:

Arguing about beer sure is fun! For everyone like me who would rather drink p*ss than Bud there is at least one other person out there who thinks Bud is God's gift to mankind.

I still can't understand what they like about that stuff, though. I really strongly suspect, though, that it's the lack of flavor that makes it popular.

.

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Actually, I bet the ratio is more like 30-1 of people who like Bud as opposed to people who like good flavorful beer. I'ts what we grew up with and it's what the big breweries condition us to like. I think it is slowly changing and more people are discovering that beer can be very flavorful and better than Bud light.

One reason people like the big brewry beers is it's easier to drink a lot of it. They don't want flavor. They want alcohol (not that us home brewers don't want alcohol )and they want it in the easiest package to consume as possible.

mmditter said:

... In Wisconsin Jack's is a big brand for frozen pizza. The sauce on their pizzas used to have a strong peppery flavor, again, distinct from other brands. Now their sauce is mild and bland and no different from any other brand of frozen pizza...

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Yeah, and I think companies buying up other companies contributes to this 'dumbing down', too. I believe Jack's is now owned by Kraft Foods, so that tells you something - same company that gives us crappy, flavorless parmesan cheese in those green cans. Same with beer. The big 3 gobbled up all the other brewers and now all the major beers taste the same - flavorless.

Rhoobarb said:

Yeah, and I think companies buying up other companies contributes to this 'dumbing down', too. I believe Jack's is now owned by Kraft Foods, so that tells you something - same company that gives us crappy, flavorless parmesan cheese in those green cans. Same with beer. The big 3 gobbled up all the other brewers and now all the major beers taste the same - flavorless.

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You are correct. Kraft has at least 3 brand names of pizza-- Jack's, Tombstone and whatever that big expensive one in the box is that's suppose to taste like take-out pizza but doesn't. Over time they all get more and more like one another.

RichBrewer said:

One reason people like the big brewry beers is it's easier to drink a lot of it. They don't want flavor. They want alcohol (not that us home brewers don't want alcohol )and they want it in the easiest package to consume as possible.

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Bingo on that one. When I think of all the beer that tends to be "rented" by people it is amazing. The funny thing is that when you think about it, the micro-brews that seem more expensive in the store probably really aren't-- you tend not to drink so many of them. In the long run they turn out to be cheaper.

I remember when a Tombstone was a special pizza, now, like you said it just tastes like everything else.

When I'm drinking that type of beer I actually go for one with no flavor. MGD has some flavor, but it's a bad flavor. Best just left flavorless.

I did have some decent bud last night, mixed it with V8, lime, salt and tabasco. It wasn't half bad.

Hey, I won't argue with the fact that B/M/C is relatively flavorless. For me, there is a time and place for it (just a few examples):

1)If that's all that's available. If I'm a guest at someone's house and that's all they have I'm not going to drink Diet Pepsi. Or if I'm at a bar and that's all they have (plenty of those in my town) then I'll drink it.

2)golfing

3)fishing (although I will occasionally take some micro)

4)cutting fire wood or doing yard work

A lot of people on these forums like to ***** about how bad BMC tastes. It's not bad, it's jut different than what you've become accustomed to. How many chronic BMC drinkers do you know who wrinkle their noses at the thought of a micro brew? A lot. From their perspective, we are the ones drinking bad tasting beers.

Assuming that someone has been "conditioned" to like BMC by the big breweries is just plain pretentious. I like BMC (some more than others) and it's insulting that someone would think I've been "conditioned" like I'm a dog or something.

AHU

AllHoppedUp said:

it's insulting that someone would think I've been "conditioned" like I'm a dog or something.

AHU

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Woah, boy!

Sit. SIT!

staaaaaay.

-walker

PS: just teasing. I drink BMC from time to time.

AllHoppedUp said:

A lot of people on these forums like to ***** about how bad BMC tastes. It's not bad, it's jut different than what you've become accustomed to. How many chronic BMC drinkers do you know who wrinkle their noses at the thought of a micro brew? A lot. From their perspective, we are the ones drinking bad tasting beers.

Assuming that someone has been "conditioned" to like BMC by the big breweries is just plain pretentious. I like BMC (some more than others) and it's insulting that someone would think I've been "conditioned" like I'm a dog or something.

AHU

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Maybe I worded that wrong. I think that most of us beer drinkers grew up on BMC. I know the first time I tasted an import I couldn't stand it. I will admit to you that I will drink an ice cold BMC on a hot day. As a matter of fact I prefer a beer like that when I'm really thirsty.
I had no intention of insulting or offending anyone.

Most of us here have probably consumed many, many more gallons of BMC in our lives than we would care to admit to. We have found something better now, though, and it is hard to go back.

There is no question at all in my mind, though, that the brewing giants are good at what they do. A can of Miller Lite tastes exactly the same wherever and whenever in the world you have one. And that certainly takes some doing.