Molson Coors history

The Molsons established the first industrial-scale distillery in Montreal in 1820.

In 1824 he moved to Kingston, Ontario, where he established an independent brewing and distilling operation.

The elder John Molson left the company in 1828, leaving John, Jr., and William as active partners.

In 1844 the Molson brewery, now called Thos. & Wm.

The first in the third generation to enter the family business was John H. R. Molson, who joined the partnership in 1848.

Beer production grew faster than bottle production, though, necessitating the company's purchase of a separate barrel factory at Port Hope, Ontario, in 1851.

The former company was founded by Frederick Edward John Miller, who emigrated from Germany in 1854 and the following year began production in the Plank Road Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 1859 Molson started to advertise in Montreal newspapers, while also setting up a retail sales network and introducing pint bottles.

By 1866, the brewery's hundredth year in Molson hands, its production volume had multiplied 175 times but profit cleared on each gallon remained the same: 26¢. In the early years of the 20th century, the company incorporated pasteurization and electric refrigeration into its methods.

Coors Brewing Company was started by Adolph Coors in Golden, Colorado, United States in 1873.

1880 — Coors buys out Schueler, renaming his business the Coors Brewery.

In 1887 the brewery sold 7,049 barrels of beer (31 gallons per barrel). Three years later that figure more than doubled, reaching 17,600 barrels.

1911 Molson is reorganized as a private, limited joint-share company and renamed Molson's Brewery Ltd.

1916 — After Colorado launches into Prohibition four years ahead of the rest of the country, the brewery survives by making malted milk and ceramics, among other products.

1920 During Prohibition era, Coors changes its name to Adolph Coors Company.

1933 — Coors begins making beer again and expands into Arizona, its first distribution outside of Colorado.

1937 — Coors introduces its “Brewed with Pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water” slogan.

1953 — Coors begins advertising on television, helping to promote an image of Colorado as a serene land of nature and vacations.

Additional Breweries Built and Acquired Starting in 1955

1959 — Bill Coors develops the aluminum can, soon to be a standard of packaging for American brewing.

In 1962 the company name was changed to Molson Breweries Limited, reflecting the firm's expansion into multi-brewery operation.

Diversification Beginning in 1968

The tobacco company Philip Morris Inc. obtained controlling interest in Miller Brewing Company in 1970.

The last of these was rooted in Molson's 1971 purchase of the Ontario-based Aikenhead's Home Improvement Warehouse chain.

In 1972 it spent $50 million buying more than 90 percent of the shares of Beaver Lumber Company Limited, a large Canadian company.

1975 — Coors goes public on the Nasdaq with an initial public offering of $31 per share, the largest IPO at the time.

1977 — A worker’s strike slows the brewery’s growth at the same time Miller Brewing begins to take more market share with its national advertising campaign.

1978 — The brewery introduces Coors Light, marking the first time in 20 years that it makes more than one style of beer.

1981 — Distribution begins east of the Mississippi River for the first time.

1989 Merger of Molson Breweries and Carling O'Keefe

If, as Peter Coors hinted to a reporter in a March 1991 Forbes article, the company wanted to mount a challenge to second-ranking Miller Brewing, it would still need to double its United States brewing capacity.

A significant cost-cutting move came in the form of a 1993 workforce reduction of 700, which was accompanied by a $70 million charge that led to the company's first full-year loss in ten years.

In 1994 Home Depot Inc. purchased a 75 percent stake in Aikenhead's, whose stores were then converted to Home Depots.

John Barnett had been named president of Molson Breweries in November 1995, and he used his 25-plus years of brewing experience to aggressively attempt to reverse the decline.

Nonetheless, charges related to the sale and for restructuring both Molson Breweries and Beaver Lumber resulted in a net loss of CAD 305.5 million ($225 million) for 1996.

In December 1997, Molson Companies, Foster's, and Miller Brewing reached an agreement that restructured their relationships.

In 1999 Zima Citrus was introduced, offering a blend of natural citrus flavors.

The Barrie brewery was shuttered in August 2000, putting more than 400 people out of work, and Molson took a CAD 188 million charge to cover the costs of the restructuring.

One of the few growth areas in the United States market was import beers, and Coors filled that gap in its lineup by entering into a new partnership with Molson in early 2001.

In early 2002 Molson shut down another brewery, the small one in Regina, which had been deemed superfluous.

One of the few bright spots for the company was the growing popularity of Coors Light, which it was selling as part of its partnership with Coors and which by 2004 was generating about 20 percent of Molson's operating profit in Canada.

By January 2005 the Molson shareholders had been placated by the inclusion of a special cash dividend totaling $532 million, and the transaction finally closed in early February.

On 9 October 2007, SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced a joint venture to be known as MillerCoors for their United States brewing and sales operations.

On May 26, 2011 seventh-generation family member Andrew Molson succeeded Pete Coors as acting Chairman of the company.

In early 2012 the company expanded into the Central and Eastern Europe markets by acquiring the region's market-leading brewery StarBev from CVC Capital Partners.

The merger between Anheuser-Busch Inbev and SABMiller closed on October 10, 2016.

2019 — Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE:TAP) CEO Gavin Hattersley announced the company will consolidate its headquarters in Chicago under a revitalization plan.

On September 15, 2020, Molson Coors and D. G. Yuengling & Son announced a joint venture to oversee the expansion of Yuengling beer into states beyond its existing footprint.