"Coors Brewing Co. quietly changed the recipe of its Original Coors beer as part of a marketing strategy emphasizing the brand's heritage. The company confirmed that it returned to a 100% rice- based adjunct recipe - the recipe that the company abandoned in the mid-1970s. Coors began using corn starch in the mid-70s because of "volatility" in the rice market, causing concerns about price, quality and availability. Taste-test panels determined that the company could employ corn starch without "affecting the taste," said Dave Taylor, the brewer's corporate communications manager. Hoping to reverse the brand's 20-year sales decline, the Golden brewer announced in the spring that it redesigned the packaging, devised a fresh advertising campaign and improved the quality. Coors debated the wisdom of publicizing the formula change in the spring, deciding to de-emphasize it with the help of the "improved quality" euphemism. "We didn't want to create the perception that we were making radical changes," Taylor said. "Consumers might not notice the difference in the recipe." (Source: Steve Caulk, Rocky Mountain News, August 29, 1996 Thursday, Business; Pg. 1B)"
Coors has contracting the growing of their unique strain of barley for many decades.They are one of the few brewers that malts their own barley.
The California grown rice is an important part of the flavor of Coors Banquet. When it was first developed and even today rice is more expensive than barley. Rice is used to lighten the flavor and mouthfeel, not to "cheapen" the product.