I don't get it why it would be.
Also, did they steal the beer from the warehouse or did they just take it out earlier than they should have?
If I remember there was an issue with distribution at the time.
shareEven President Ford liked to smuggle some back to DC on Air Force One after a ski trip to Colorado with the family.
shareThe beer itself wasn't illegal. It was unpasteurized and couldn't be transported far. But I think, and I could be wrong, that transporting it across state lines without being a licensed distributor was illegal. I think the time component was getting it there before it went bad. There was a huge mystique about Coors. It was marketing genius. Colorado Kool-aid was a big deal. I had friends back East begging me to bring them some, and I always asked "Why? It's not that great"
shareYou are right
shareIt may have had to do with the alcohol content. It was probably not illegal to possess the beer in other states, but the truckfull was clearly being shipped with intent to sell.
My husband and I don't drink, but know plenty of people who drive down to Texas because their beer has a higher alcohol content than what's available in Oklahoma.
I doubt it was or is, but for God's sake, it's so crappy it should be!
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."
It is a horrible beer, I have never understood why it's so loved.
sharePasteurization may have figured into it. But it think it mostly had to do with distribution rights and state regulation regarding distribution of alcohol.
I recall in the 70s Coors was not to be distributed in any state east of the Mississippi (company policy?). Because of popularity and demand distributors in Kentucky got around the restriction because a change in course of the river put a small section of KY west of the Mississippi.
Shortly thereafter the beer was distributed throughout the east.
It's explained in the opening scene. Transporting liquor across state lines = Bootlegging.
shareThink its a plot hole because prohibition ended like in the 1920s or early 30s. All they had to do was go to a 7 11 and buy Coors there instead of picking it up and racing to whatever city they went to
shareThis is not true…there were regulatory reasons Coors was not sold in the East until the 80s
sharecoors specifically??
Also Coors Light
shareHere is a VERY long NY Times article about Coors from the 70s
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/28/archives/article-4-no-title-sold-only-in-the-west-coors-beer-is-smuggled-to.html
Thanks,
It still looks to me like Coors just didnt wanna sell it it the East , says in that article they didnt have enough production volume.
If thats all it is, I still dont see how taking some east becomes a police matter
It’s because there were state by state laws and regulations that had to be abided by for beer to be sold in various states….since Coors wouldn’t do what it took to sell the beer in states East of the Mississippi….the state laws that made transporting large quantities of unregulated alcohol into a state against the law…turned what happened in Smoky into bootlegging.
No one would have cared if you bought a 12 pack in Nebraska and drove it home to Georgia….but trucking in a whole of it was against the law and would have legal consequences.
Kind of in the same way that having a poker game with your buddies at your house is allowed…but if you turned your basement into a full on casino you would attract some unwanted legal attention.
Thanks again for the more details
So would it be the case that even if you owned a liquor store in the east, and we're all licensed and everything , and you were legally selling budweiser all day you couldn't drive to the coors brewery , and get a few case to stock up your shop?
and if so would that be because each beer has to have some kind of certification in each state ?
like a "This has been passed as edible" type thing ?