Who owns MICKEY’S BEER?

MICKEY’S BEER is owned by

MOLSON COORS

First Brewed

1962

Origin

Indiana, United States

Website

Mickey’s Beer was created in 1962 by the Sterling Brewery based in Evansville, Indiana. Sterling Brewery was originally known as Hartmetz and Son Brewery, which was founded in 1868. In 1894 they merged with Evansville Brewery and Fulton Brewery to become the Evansville Brewing Association. When prohibition ended in 1933, the Evansville Brewing Association reopened as Sterling Brewery (after their most popular brand).

With the industry consolidating, the company introduced Mickey’s in response to a growing demand for malt liquor, preceded by such brands as Country Club (introduced in the early 1950s) and soon followed by Colt 45 (in 1963) and Olde English (in 1964). The 7.4% beverage quickly became one of the company’s most popular, and was well known for its unique green grenade shaped bottle.

In 1972, Sterling Brewing Company went out of business, and the brand was purchased by the G. Heileman Brewing Company. The brewery in Evansville survived until 1988, when production moved to other Heileman facilities. Heileman itself was purchased by Stroh Brewing in 1996. Three years later, Stroh sold the brand to Miller Brewing, which at the time was a subsidiary of Philip Morris Companies Inc.

Later in 2002, Miller came under the ownership of South African Breweries (SAB), which became known as SABMiller. In 2008, SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company formed a joint operation in the United States called MillerCoors LLC. When SABMiller was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2016, SABMiller’s stake in the joint venture was sold to Molson Coors to satisfy regulators.

Mickey’s today is now the United States’ second most popular malt liquor brand, after Steel Reserve, which is also owned by Molson Coors.