Coors launches Aspen Edge low carb

Modern Brewery Age, March 15, 2004

The Coors Brewing Company has announced the roll out of Aspen Edge, its super-premium, low-carb light lager. The brand will be available in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, Virginia, Maine, and Texas. A nationwide expansion is planned by summer's end 2004. Aspen Edge will be available in 6- and 12-pack bottles at on- and off-premise outlets.

It took extensive research and development, a special blend of malts and a completely unique brewing and fermenting process for Coors Master Brewers Keith Villa and David Bright to create Aspen Edge. "Removing carbs while still brewing a quality beer is a delicate art. Lighter beers are already more complex than their dark counterparts because there's no heavy flavor to hide behind," said Keith Villa. "A relatively easy way to reduce carbs is to simply water down regular beer but that wasn't an acceptable answer for us."

Villa has a doctorate degree in brewing and was trained in Belgium in the fine art of brewing beer. He developed the Aspen Edge recipe and worked with David Bright and his team to refine the quality, paying close attention to flavor, body and color.

"In qualitative research, guys told us if there was a low-carb beer that also tasted great, they'd try it," said Ron Askew, Coors chief marketing officer. "It's a tribute to our master brewers that Aspen Edge delivers a clean, refreshing taste that consumers are demanding." Aspen Edge received high marks for taste, full flavor, and aroma in consumer focus studies.

Coors said the launch is supported by "a full media campaign, including a mix of television, outdoor, radio, print and sponsorships, depending upon the market." In addition, the company said it would field a line-up of point-of-sale and merchandise.