Colorado Native Amber Lager
AC Golden Brewing Company

Colorado Native Amber LagerColorado Native Amber Lager
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From:
AC Golden Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
American Amber / Red Lager
Ranked #31
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
82
Ranked #24,648
Avg:
3.63 | pDev: 13.5%
Reviews:
70
Ratings:
274
Status:
Active
Rated:
Aug 31, 2023
Added:
Apr 06, 2010
Wants:
  18
Gots:
  76
Colorado Native is a hand crafted lager made with all Colorado ingredients that celebrates the joys of life in Colorado.

Hold up a pint of Colorado Native and drink in its amber lager color, brought to life with pale and caramel malts from our famous Moravian 2-row barley. We painstakingly balanced its malt character against select Chinook, Centennial and Cascade hops to create a perfectly balanced, full-flavored beer. A lager yeast fermentation gives Colorado Native a slight fruitiness, complementing a citrus aroma note from a late kettle hop addition. Everything then comes together to deliver a clean taste and dry finish that is very drinkable by itself, or paired with your favorite foods.
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Ratings by BradLikesBrew:
Photo of BradLikesBrew
Reviewed by BradLikesBrew from Missouri

4.42/5  rDev +21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Colorado Native has been out for months now. Its success has been remarkable. It currently outsells Fat Tire 6pks in our store 3 to 1. I recently realized that after enjoying so many 6pks of Colorado Native, I somehow failed to review it. Maybe I was just avoiding a difficult subject, maybe I thought my friendship with the brewers of this beer meant I should remain silent, maybe I've had a few drinks and I'm feeling ornery. Regardless, tonight I've got something to say.

Colorado Native is a surprisingly unique beer. Two things seem to draw immediate attention from most drinkers. The first is that Colorado Native is brewed with 100% Colorado ingredients. I think this is a really cool idea and an excellent way to highlight the potential for hop production here in Colorado. The second is that Colorado Native is "brewed by Coors." This is an easy knock to apply to the beer. Beer geeks love few things more than ripping on BMC producers. While there are certainly valid reasons for beer drinkers to express frustration with brewers like Coors, this particular claim is both confused and irrelevant.

To say that this beer is made by Coors is a half truth that doesn't tell the whole story. MillerCoors owns AC Golden much like they own Blue Moon, Molson, Leinenkugel and others. They brew on a small 30 barrel system and hand bottle their beer...inside the world's largest commercial brewery, the Coors facility in Golden, CO. If Colorado Native and other AC Golden products are well received and consumer demand grows, these brands may try to go nationwide. If they do that, I would expect to see these beers truly produced by Coors on their much larger equipment. I think the best way to look at AC Golden is as a brand incubator for Coors. Brew unique beer on a small scale and see what people think.

But in the end, I feel that this is a moot point. It is irrelevant. Many Beer Advocates have animosity towards brewers like Coors because they have come to represent the big, bad, multinational corporation out to ruin beer as we know it. If that is how you feel, so be it. You are entitled to your opinion. Me? I only care about how beer makes me feel when I drink it. If I enjoy it, I enjoy it, no matter who makes it. I suspect that deep down this is how most people feel too.

If Bud made beer that more people liked to drink, they wouldn't be part of InBev, they would still be the largest American-owned brewery. But they did not adequately adjust their product mix to satisfy the growing and more profitable segment of the beer market that wants more from their beer. For generations, most Americans wanted a light, fizzy, and above all, inexpensive beer, so that is what brewers brewed. They may have helped drive our opinions with marketing, but in the end, they brewed what they thought most people wanted. If AC Golden is an attempt to brew a new kind of beer for a new and growing subset of the beer market and they brew beer that I want to drink, who the fuck cares who bank rolls them? Good beer is good beer.

Rant over.

Colorado Native pours a light copper body with a bone white head that leaves a patchwork of lacing on my glass.

The nose is unlike any lager I have experienced. It smells like an American Pale Ale, showcasing the Colorado-grown Chinook, Centennial, and Cascade hops it was brewed with. That's right, this is a lager brewed with citrus "C" hops. To me, this is what makes Colorado Native so special.

The flavor is equally as impressive. It opens with toasty, bready malt that leads to a fruity, citrusy, floral hop finish. Bitterness is not too high, it stays true to its Lager roots. But American hop varietals are still at the forefront.

The body is medium to full for the style, the finish long.

Colorado Native is a total session beer. It manages to, "combine the great hop and malt flavors of a pale ale with the soft, delicate features of a lager." This is hands down the best Amber Lager I have tasted. If more Lagers tasted like this maybe Lager wouldn't be the curse word it appears to have become in the Craft Beer community. And maybe if the big boys brewed more beer like this, we wouldn't care so much about words like Craft.
Dec 01, 2010
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by alexsergio from New York

Aug 31, 2023
Photo of CBlack85
Reviewed by CBlack85 from South Carolina

3.36/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
On tap at Mesa Verde (Denver Airport), served in a Pint Glass

The beer pours a clear amber/mahogany color with a small light beige head that slowly recedes leaving behind a moderate amount of lacing.

The aroma is bready with hints of toasted malts, a mild nuttiness, and just a touch of caramel sweetness. There is also a nice piney hop presence.

Similar to the aroma, there are bready and toasty malt flavors with a light amount of caramel. There is also a nice mild piney hoppiness that helps balance the beer out a little. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Not a bad example of the style, but not something I would go looking for.
Aug 11, 2023
 
Rated: 3.8 by TwiggyCZ from Czech Republic

Jul 21, 2023
 
Rated: 3.62 by Hefsbeercaps from Ohio

Mar 19, 2023
 
Rated: 3.56 by QuintusHorace from California

Feb 18, 2023
 
Rated: 3.72 by saymike32 from New Jersey

Oct 07, 2022
Photo of JZH1000
Reviewed by JZH1000 from Colorado

3.58/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Had on tap at hoffbrau Bar & Grill Westminster.

On arrival a one finger head was present that receded over a couple minutes to a ring around the rim, and light covering. Lacing is left with this one. Fine lazy carbonation in a dark amber clear body.

Aroma is quite light even as a lager. Some very light off lager yeast is present but mostly a light American bitter hop with a nice bit light caramel sweet malt. Piney and earthy but quite balanced.

Taste is similar to the aroma with some light piney bitter hops right up front followed by some light lager yeast then the sweet nuttycaramel malts stick around woth some light bitterness for the rest of the drink.

Feel is light and soft with a good soft head. Very drinkable with some mouth drying feeling. Decently carbonated but very fine and smooth. Feel is a bit sterile for a craft style beer but it is coors. Not the most nuanced beer but a very clean almost crafty feeling

Overall this is an upscale macro lightly hoppy amber lager made by the Coors Company. It's really not bad and pretty clean. To the untrained palate and beer need this could pass as a craft amber ale, but it's a bit sterile and 2 to 3 note. Better than traditional macro lagers but it's missing a bit of soul.
Aug 22, 2022
 
Rated: 3.29 by jchanley from Illinois

Jul 24, 2022
 
Rated: 3.67 by akaizer from Virginia

Jun 04, 2022
 
Rated: 3.56 by RockyM72 from Florida

Mar 03, 2022
 
Rated: 3.5 by Scott17Taylor from Iowa

Oct 07, 2021
Photo of Mark-Leggett
Reviewed by Mark-Leggett from Missouri

3.69/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a can. Amber in color with a large tan head and lacing. Smells of malt and honey. Flavors of bread, caramel, and malt. Seems to come together well.
Sep 28, 2021
 
Rated: 3.77 by CisPiece88 from Nebraska

Aug 04, 2021
 
Rated: 4.03 by MikeDrew from Colorado

Oct 06, 2020
 
Rated: 3.48 by RDW from Nebraska

Aug 22, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by FLBeerGuy from Florida

Jul 03, 2020
Photo of OompaMentor
Rated by OompaMentor from Georgia

3.5/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3/25/2019 - Nice color, modest carb leading to foamy head. Malty, Easy drinking.
Feb 05, 2020
Photo of DenverDave1
Rated by DenverDave1

4.58/5  rDev +26.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Great beer, Its like you mixed blue Moon and Coors light. Flavorful and crisp and not too overpowering
Sep 26, 2019
 
Rated: 3.69 by ColForbinBC from New Jersey

Aug 26, 2019
Colorado Native Amber Lager from AC Golden Brewing Company
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 274 ratings