Colorado gets a taste of low-carb Coors brew
By Steve Raabe
Denver Post Business Writer

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 -

Aspen Edge, the new low-carbohydrate beer from Coors Brewing Co., will hit Colorado store shelves this week.

On the heels of the enormous success of Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Ultra low-carb beer, Coors launched Aspen Edge earlier this month in 11 states. This week's rollout will include Colorado and 15 more states.

Analysts said Coors is late to the low-carb competition and that Coors Light, the second- most-popular light beer in the country, has lost market share to low-carb competitors.

The question for Coors is whether Aspen Edge will take customers away from Coors Light, said Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insights.

"Low-carb will cannibalize light-beer sales, and that's a serious risk for Coors," Shepard said.

Aspen Edge is expected to begin selling today in larger Denver-area liquor stores, with smaller stores taking delivery later this week.

Coors officials declined to comment on the Colorado rollout, which will be formally announced Friday.