Coors Creates Non-Alcoholic Milk to Wash Down Your Beer Water

Photo: Molson Coors

While many of us grew up drinking nothing but cow’s milk, some people can’t handle lactose well and others just don’t want to drink the milk of another animal. For these folks, there seems to be an endless amount of vegetable, grain, and plant-based milk. This includes pea, hemp, almond, soy, coconut, and even oat milk. While many of the brands are only known for their specific milk, one new plant-based milk comes from one of the most popular American beer brands of all time.

It’s from the makers of Coors and Miller, Molson Coors, and it’s called Golden Wing Barley Milk and (you guessed it) it’s milk made from the used barley also known as the “spent grains” that are left after the brewing process.

“The plant-based milk category is growing rapidly, and it’s largely fueled by innovation,” Molson Coors marketing manager Brian Schmidt said in a company post. “We know beer, and because of that, we know barley…With our background and expertise, we believe this will be the next major evolution in the plant-based milk category.”

Made only from water, barley, sunflower oil, pink Himalayan salt, and shiitake mushroom extract, it is currently only available at the brand’s website as well as Sprouts locations in California and Whole Foods in Southern California.

That’s all well and good. It’s nice to know it’s not filled with strange chemicals and preservatives, but how does it compare to real milk in terms of nutrition for toddlers, children, and adults looking for a healthier alternative? Well, apparently when compared to 2 percent milk, Golden Wing has 60 percent less sugar, 50 percent more calcium, and two times as much vitamin D.

So, in essence, it’s better milk than real milk, nutritionally speaking. As for the taste? We can’t speak to that, but the ingredients don’t sound like anything we’d like to slug down. The worst part is that even though it’s made by Molson Coors, it doesn’t contain any alcohol. Major design flaw there, Coors.