Brands produced at the Irwindale facility include Miller Lite, Coors Light, Miller High Life, MGD, Steel Reserve, Miller 64 and several brands for Pabst. The brewery opened in 1980 and employs around 470 people. In 2019 it produced 4.8 million barrels and shipped to 261 independently-owned distributors.
Over the next nine months, production at the facility will be transferred to Molson Coors’ breweries in Golden, Colo., and Fort Worth, Texas.
Brian Erhardt, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer for Molson Coors, said: “This move will allow us to optimize our brewery footprint while streamlining our operations for greater efficiency across the network.
“While it was a very difficult decision, we have extra capacity in our system and Irwindale’s production can be absorbed by other breweries in our network.”
In October Molson Coors announced major restructuring plans for its North American business, including relocating its headquarters to Chicago and cutting up to 500 jobs. The Irwindale closure, however, is separate to this larger revitalization plan.
