Coors beer, why was it illegal to transport?

Question

I know it was illegal until the 1980's to transport Coors beer west of the Missippissi but why was it illegal and what changed it?

Answer 1

Great question. I lived in Kansas City during that time, and that was a funny thing as when we went back to TN someone would ask us to bring Coors beer. Like a lot of breweries, Coors only sold in certain area, in this case west of the Miss. river. Iron City was/is a PA beer, Genesee used to only be sold in NY, PA and OH.
Coors also at that time was a much smaller company than it is today, so the may not have had the capacity to sell nationally.
Also they used to advertise that their beer was always refrigerated, from brewery to store. And stores had to keep it in a cooler. So maybe the shipping and storage costs were too high to get refrigerated beer from CO to the east coast?
Coors promoted that Rocky Mountain image and limited distribution. And I think some movies promoted this bootleg image of Coors, you know the forbidden fruit tastes sweetest.

Alcohol sales are regulated and taxed by each state. So in general it is illegal to buy alcohol in one state and resell in another. For example if I owned a bar I could not buy my alcohol in the cheaper state and drive it across the boarder. Look at liquor bottles and cigarettes, they have state stamps or seals. So some people would fill a truck with Coors and drive it east, and then resell the beer. People were doing it for the novelty of it, not to avoid taxes, but technically they were still "bootleging" alcohol.
So while this situation is usually associated with Coors, the situation was and is the same for any alcoholic beverage that is sold in one state and not another.
What changed is Coors began selling to licensed distributors in other states.
For consumers it probably was not illegal to transport a reasonable amount for personal consumption, but if someone was pulled over with 10 cases in their trunk, they might get hasseled or fined for something.

Answer 2

It was never illegal to transport.

It was non-pasteurized, which meant it could only be shipped to places it could get to without getting too warm. In those says refrigerated train cars and trucks were not available, so places beyond a certain distance from Colorado were out of range.

The movie "Smokey and the Bandit" may have given people the impression that it was illegal to ship east of the MIssissippi.

Answer 3

It was never illegal to transport.

Answer 4

Need more details

Answer 5

So amazed that I found this question already answered! Its like you read my mind!

Answer 6

dry county ?

Answer 7

cause its gator piss thats why