(Golden, CO) – Coors Brewing is moving forward with Batch 19 Pre-Prohibition Lager and plans to bring it into retail shops later this year.

Coors has made media waves in the past few months with its introductions of Batch 19 and Colorado Native Lager, two products that could compete in the fast-rising craft beer market.

The Denver Post reported yesterday that in just six weeks since its introduction, Colorado Native Lager has made its way into 600 stores, bars and restaurants around Colorado. To put that in perspective, Beer Advocate only lists 304 beer establishments in its Colorado directory.

The brewery has plans for Native Lager that go way beyond Colorado though. According to The Post:

“Brewery officials hope Native will mirror the path of MillerCoors’ popular Blue Moon Belgian White — becoming a commercial success, outstripping AC Golden’s small capacity and transitioning to a mass-produced beer.

Such a prospect is threatening to some traditional craft brewers. They see MillerCoors, the nation’s No. 2 beermaker, using its corporate muscle to capture market share from smaller players.”

That fear is not unwarranted. One beer store manager that I spoke to when the product first arrived in the cooler said that it was a craft brand that was replaced, not one of Coors’ other brands.

Now Coors is getting aggressive in its push of Batch 19, not just in bars, but soon to be in retail.

As with Colorado Native, Coors has built a website, a Twitter page (CNL doesn’t have this), a Facebook page and is also holding release events in launch cities like Chicago. The brewery is going after the same swanky clientele to which the Brewers Association is marketing craft beer.

Coors is even going after craft supporters. Just a few weeks after the CBS Chicago affiliate was singing the praises of craft beer with the Brewers Association in town for the Craft Brewers Conference, they did a whole segment on Batch 19. A Milwaukee TV affiliate also did a segment. Both videos can be found on the Batch 19 Youtube page. The brewery is also showcasing a ringing endorsement from Beer Advocate’s Jason Alström on the Batch 19 home page.

While these two beers alone shouldn’t do too much damage to craft growth, it will be interesting to see just how many of these beers that Coors or their big brewery competition introduce over the coming year.

[Note: additional reading/clarification on Batch 19 marketing.]