Beer and tech? Molson Coors thinks they go together as well as a cold Miller Lite on a hot summer day.

Here’s the deal…

Summerfest is a massive music festival that takes place along Milwaukee’s lakefront every year. But it also home to the Summerfest Tech Pitch Competition, a showcase some of the region’s most promising startups.

And we were interested to learn that Molson Coors, which is better known for Blue Moon beer than cloud computing, is one of the competition’s biggest sponsors.

Turns out technology plays a big role at Molson Coors. From supply chain and packaging solutions to safeguarding breweries and corporate offices, getting a cold beer in your hands takes a lot more than water, hops and barley.

(Courtesy Molson Coors)

Brewing beer at this scale (which is mega compared to most craft breweries) demands cutting-edge solutions and talent, and that’s why the second biggest brewer in the US is helping create a tech hub in its own backyard. And that starts with the three-day Summerfest Tech pitch competition, which kicked off on June 28th,  a three-day event that awards winners a portion of $50,000 to help fund their tech startups.

“Our company relies on the creativity of our people, but also the capabilities that we’re bringing to the forefront, and a lot of that is rooted in new technology,” Jonah Turner, head of emerging technology at Molson Coors told Beer & Beyond. “We need to have a strong pipeline of both ideas and talent to support all of the innovative work that we’re doing.”

And Molson Coors’ commitment to tech extends far beyond Summerfest and Milwaukee’s startup scene. They recently co-hosted Midwest House at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, one of the most celebrated music, culture and tech events in the US.

“Technology is at the root of selling great products to our customers,” Turner added.  “This is an awesome company to work for and we’re making some amazing contributions in the tech space.”

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