MillerCoors' local craft brewing venture, AC Golden Brewing Co., is rolling out its first small-batch beer: Herman Joseph's Private Reserve.

The lager officially launches today, debuting at a limited number of upscale Denver restaurants.

AC Golden Brewing, in Golden, describes "HJ Private Reserve" as a handcrafted, German-style lager. It's brewed with European and North American hops and Moravian 2-row barley.

Coors Brewing - prior to its new MillerCoors joint venture - unveiled its plans for AC Golden Brewing last August. It represents a bid to tap into the rapidly growing craft beer market.

HJ Private Reserve is named in honor of company founder Adolph Herman Joseph Coors. The name also harkens back to the beer Coors introduced in the 1980s but later pulled amid sluggish sales, Herman Joseph's 1868.

"HJ Private Reserve is an all-together different beer with a very different taste, different ingredients and brewed in much smaller quantities," Glenn Knippenberg, president of AC Golden Brewing, said in a statement.