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JMD87

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Okay, I get the fact that AB makes some terrible beer per beer 'elitist' standards, however I really don't understand the rage against the company. Without going on a rant, the way I see it is AB is a company that is out to make money. The only reason they are successful is because their customers BUY THE CRAPPY BEER! Who are we to be angry because AB is successful? Do people think they should brew a more "acceptable" beer for the much smaller market of people who like real beer? Or should they keep selling their beer to the masses that will line their pockets with gold?

This isn't just about AB either... this goes for basically any of the top-selling domestic breweries. I guess I'm either a dope, or I have a lot to learn. I know this is talked about all the time, and mostly everyone will skim over this post, but I don't know man from a business point of view, they seem to be doing everything right.
 
Not everyone on this site is 'angry' per se at the huge corporations. Part of it is just camaraderie at knowing me make something better than what we can buy at the store. Would I be sad if Budweiser closed it's doors? Well yea, because they employ many hundreds of good people plus the economy would suffer. I just don't buy their products and likely never will ever again.

We as homebrewers like to make high quality, flavorful ales and lagers, The way that beer has been made for thousands of years. Bud, Miller and Coors are the opposite of that. They make extremely bland, fizzy generic barley soda with no hardly any flavor to it whatsoever. It's pandering to the lowest common denominator. It's also, IMO, a sign of the decline in our culture. It seems to be the American way to water down and bowdlerize real traditions, foods and activities so they are boring and generic. Look at all our fast food chains. You can get the exact same burger at any McDonalds in the world. It's terrible in it's mediocrity, but at least it's consistant! I'm sure there's a cooking forum somewhere mocking BMK (Burger king, Mcdonalds, and KFC) for their unhealthy foods. :p

You see all these macrolager ads lately for the 'vent hole' and making it ice cold via the 'code blue'? The vent is so you can shotgun the beer so you don't have to taste it. When you drink ice cold liquid it literally numbs your tastebuds so you can't taste anything. That's not to say that they aren't trying. The big three are trying to branch out into the craft brew market with mixed results. I haven't had any, but I hear their craft beers aren't very good. Who knows if it's because they're not trying, or if they're afraid of scaring off their customer base with actual, you know, FLAVOR.
 
from a business point of view, they seem to be doing everything right.

I agree with you that they have an admirable business. Good for them. But that has nothing to do with the quality of the product, and everything to do with peoples' willingness to buy it.

I recently bought a $600 espresso machine. I could have gotten one for $50 at Target. Those types outsell the "real" espresso machines like mine by a dramatic margin, but they aren't real espresso machines- they don't even make true espresso.

By many countries' standards, AB doesn't make beer- beer contains malt, hops, barley and yeast. By those standards, AB makes malt liquor using a variety of malts (including possible corn and rice). Now, Americans call it beer, but in many other countries it's not beer.

So some may say that the $50 espresso machine makes espresso, but I say no, it actually just makes strong coffee. Some people say AB makes beer, I say no, they make malt liquor. Maybe that's purely a snob thing... but maybe it's actually a technical distinction worth making.

Sure, I admire AB's business. But if you ask me if they make good beer, I have to say that no, they make bland and tasteless malt liquor. Sure, it's good bland and tasteless malt liquor, but it's still bland and tasteless malt liquor.

You can tell me that you consider it beer. And you can consider what comes from the $50 espresso machine to be "espresso". But it's really a cheap and tasteless imitation intended to appeal to the lowest common denominator- the truly clueless. Anybody with an appreciation for beer, or for espresso, can tell the difference.

FWIW, I don't think people really rage against the company... if anything people rage against their marketing tactics which basically aim to dumb down the consumer and make people less knowledgeable about their products. Using terms like "frost brewed", "born on dates", "cold filtered". Maybe those techniques have merit in some cases, but it seems they frequently use them as buzzwords for quality when, in fact, they may indicate a lack of quality, thereby making consumers who listen to their adds less knowledgeable about beer. And I think that is a damn shame.
 
Not everyone on this site is 'angry' per se at the huge corporations. Part of it is just camaraderie at knowing me make something better than what we can buy at the store. Would I be sad if Budweiser closed it's doors? Well yea, because they employ many hundreds of good people plus the economy would suffer. I just don't buy their products and likely never will ever again.

We as homebrewers like to make high quality, flavorful ales and lagers, The way that beer has been made for thousands of years. Bud, Miller and Coors are the opposite of that. They make extremely bland, fizzy generic barley soda with no hardly any flavor to it whatsoever. It's pandering to the lowest common denominator. It's also, IMO, a sign of the decline in our culture. It seems to be the American way to water down and bowdlerize real traditions, foods and activities so they are boring and generic. Look at all our fast food chains. You can get the exact same burger at any McDonalds in the world. It's terrible in it's mediocrity, but at least it's consistant! I'm sure there's a cooking forum somewhere mocking BMK (Burger king, Mcdonalds, and KFC) for their unhealthy foods. :p

You see all these macrolager ads lately for the 'vent hole' and making it ice cold via the 'code blue'? The vent is so you can shotgun the beer so you don't have to taste it. When you drink ice cold liquid it literally numbs your tastebuds so you can't taste anything. That's not to say that they aren't trying. The big three are trying to branch out into the craft brew market with mixed results. I haven't had any, but I hear their craft beers aren't very good. Who knows if it's because they're not trying, or if they're afraid of scaring off their customer base with actual, you know, FLAVOR.

Yeah, I mean, what's next, their own BJCP category? Oh, wait. :drunk:

I'm of the staunch opinion that there's nothing inherently wrong with Lite American Lager. It's a valid style, like any other. Go ahead and have some dortmunder...it's almost equally as clean and devoid of real character.

It's not pandering to the lowest common denominator. It's giving people what they want. Nobody forced people to go to the store and plunk down $15 on a 30-cube of Natty Light. But people do anyway. Everyone wants to blame the companies, like you did above, but they're only giving people what they want. Lite American Lager is a holdover from the days when clear beer was a novelty...and now it pisses of homebrewers, who strive for flavorful beer, that the most popular style in the world is the least flavorful. But do you honestly think that if, tomorrow, Budweiser changed their recipe to be an altbier, all those Lite Lager drinkers would spring out of their coma and become "enlightened" like us? No. Of course not. The beer tastes of the world are a constantly evolving thing...so enjoy this revolution that we're part of, the craft beer revolution, and stop blaming the companies that are just giving people what the prevailing taste in beer is.
 
Sure, I admire AB's business. But if you ask me if they make good beer, I have to say that no, they make bland and tasteless malt liquor. Sure, it's good bland and tasteless malt liquor, but it's still bland and tasteless malt liquor.

You can tell me that you consider it beer. And you can consider what comes from the $50 espresso machine to be "espresso". But it's really a cheap and tasteless imitation intended to appeal to the lowest common denominator- the truly clueless. Anybody with an appreciation for beer, or for espresso, can tell the difference.

Good thing you're not the authority on what comprises "beer"! It's a BJCP style, it's beer, it's just a different type of beer. Your espresso machine analogy is incorrect, because that's a matter of QUALITY, not style. I would argue that Bud, Miller, Coors, et al, have perfected the style known as 1a Lite American Lager or 1b Standard American Lager. They make good beer, and yes, it's certainly beer...they make good American Lager. To go back to your analogy, I would argue that the equivalent of your hypothetical $50 espresso machine is keystone light or milwaukee's best. They're Lite American Lager, but they're not nearly as well-made as, say, Budweiser.

I just don't buy the whole argument that, if you don't like a particular style of beer, it's no longer "beer". As if a product's definition depended on your approval.

Just sayin...:mug:
 
I just don't buy the whole argument that, if you don't like a particular style of beer, it's no longer "beer". As if a product's definition depended on your approval.

Just sayin...:mug:

It's not my approval. It's that of other countries who have a specific definition of beer, as compared to malt liquor.

It's like Spaten Optimator in America. It's not a beer. It's labeled as malt liquor. Why? Because Americans have a screwed up notion of what "a beer" is. :cross:
 
Who are we to be angry because AB is successful?

To me, it'd be one thing if they just left the craft segment alone. They are successful, good for them.

You may not recall but A-B practiced a little distribution manipulation called "100% Share of Mind" a few years back.

"In March 1996, August Busch III announced that he decided that A-B distributors should not distribute craft beers any longer, and that A-B distributors should give '100% share-of-mind' to the Budweiser family of products. In fact, A-B launched a 'share of mind' campaign headed by a 'share of mind' team... The purpose of this nationwide effort was to eliminate as many non-exclusive distributors as possible
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/1996/11/18/story7.html

Now that may be 12 years ago, but earlier this year A-B was involved with legislators in Birmingham, AL to try to keep the law against beverages with abv over 6% illegal ([ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=3zXK4RoD_aU[/ame]). Now again, that's just A-B protecting their interests, but it certainly isn't mutually supportive and if you're an Alabama resident and wanted a bottle of Stone, tough ****.

Competition is tough and A-B using their size to muscle out the craft segment is the reality of the market. But it doesn't mean they don't suck any less for it, IMHO. Especially now when they want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya with the craft beer segment, talking of cooperation and mutual support (according to some articles I've read). Guess it's just a coincidence that BMC growth has slipped over the past few years and craft beer has been jumping double digits? Even funnier is how the tears are flowing now that InBev has thrown in a bid, basically doing to A-B what they've been doing to a few micros over the past 10-15 years.

Me, I'd rather support the smaller guys who are working their butts of, making the craft beer segment what it is today instead of glorifying A-B.
 
It's not my approval. It's that of other countries who have a specific definition of beer, as compared to malt liquor.

It's like Spaten Optimator in America. It's not a beer. It's labeled as malt liquor. Why? Because Americans have a screwed up notion of what "a beer" is. :cross:

Good thing I don't use the government's labeling standards as my guide :D. It's labeled as malt liquor because we went through prohibition and we still have latent issues with alcohol, and feel that the higher the concentration of alcohol in a drink, the more "dangerous" it is.

I'd rather defer to something like the BJCP, which is removed from our latent booze demons...
 
When it comes to the naming argument, that's something that is ubiquitous across many things - for example, the production of Champagne in France versus elsewhere. I don't think anyone can fault AB for their business model, they found a market, a very large one, where they can market a product - good for them.

My feelings on the BMC's is a lot like my feelings towards television these days. Most of it flat out sucks in my opinion, but if people enjoy it, fine go ahead and watch it. But don't try to convince me that American Idol is good and I should watch it, because it's just not my thing. Same thing with BMC's - if you like it, fine. But don't try to convince me it's a "great beer", because my standards for a great beer are completely different. Are they better? I don't know. I know more about beer than most people out there, but in the end it comes down to a matter of taste (or lack thereof).
 
My issue has more to do with their marketing than anything else. Several people have stated that Budweiser is just making the beer that people want to drink; this isn't necessarily true. AB spends millions of dollars convincing people that the product they sell is what beer should taste like and that dark beers are actually bad. It's not that I am angry, it's just frustrating that I can't find a decent beer to drink when I'm out in public because AB has fast-talked everyone into drinking their product.
 
My issue has more to do with their marketing than anything else. Several people have stated that Budweiser is just making the beer that people want to drink; this isn't necessarily true. AB spends millions of dollars convincing people that the product they sell is what beer should taste like and that dark beers are actually bad. It's not that I am angry, it's just frustrating that I can't find a decent beer to drink when I'm out in public because AB has fast-talked everyone into drinking their product.

This is true, but you're not going to get people to become less impressionable to that type of influence. If AB didn't convince them, someone else would. If that wasn't the case, there wouldn't be millions of dollars spent every year on beer commercials that have nothing to do with beer. Most people are sheep - I say let them be sheep. However, it is pretty pathetic when you go to a bar and all they have is BMC because of the marketing machine.
 
My issue has more to do with their marketing than anything else. Several people have stated that Budweiser is just making the beer that people want to drink; this isn't necessarily true. AB spends millions of dollars convincing people that the product they sell is what beer should taste like and that dark beers are actually bad. It's not that I am angry, it's just frustrating that I can't find a decent beer to drink when I'm out in public because AB has fast-talked everyone into drinking their product.

I understand your point, however I have a different opinion on how marketing works. I believe they spend the millions of dollars to make their product known to the public, and then the public decides if they like it or not. You can't really argue that millions of american's are brainwashed to believe that this is the beer they like.

"You can take the donkey to the water, but you cannot force the donkey to drink the water"
 
Its all just opinion with personal taste and preference.
My Dad is a hardcore Bud Light drinker and is not into anything else.
Who am I to say he is wrong? I care less that our tastes differ. It just opinion.
In the end, its all beer and thats a good thing to me.
 
I have to agree that there is nothing wrong with A-B and they do what they do very well. There is a right time and place for their product. Yesterday working in the hot sun I took the ice cold can of bud light over my heavy home brewed stout. My wife loves Mich Ultra and, I must admit, that is a decent very light lager. Mich Ultra has now put out some fruit infused beer. I don't care for them, but the wife sure likes em. I am a firm believer that there is no bad beer, just some are better than others.
 
I have to agree that there is nothing wrong with A-B and they do what they do very well. There is a right time and place for their product.

I agree. I, for one, am glad AB is and was around.

I think some of us forget that without large brew companies like AB, we wouldn't have started drinking beer. Remember back in the day when we had to walk 5 miles barefoot, in snow, to get to the beer store? We would finally arrive, after almost dying from hypothermia, and we would take 10 minutes to decide which beer we wanted - out of the 5 choices we had. Did I mention the fact that they weren't in coolers either. :mug:
 
it's just frustrating that I can't find a decent beer to drink when I'm out in public

I'm with you on that. I cannot understand the reasoning behind the fancy restaurants where they have $100-500 wines and $25-$50 whiskey shots, and then B or M or C as their beer (if you're so bold as to ask and have a waiter look down his/her nose at you).

W T F ????????????

I just don't get it. Surely they could make more profit from selling the craft beers then from BMC. They probably sell just what people want.
 
I'm with you on that. I cannot understand the reasoning behind the fancy restaurants where they have $100-500 wines and $25-$50 whiskey shots, and then B or M or C as their beer (if you're so bold as to ask and have a waiter look down his/her nose at you).

That's a great point. I blame American culture more than anything though. It seems like if you go to any decent restaurant, the "best" beer you can get is a Sam Adam's or Stella. Don't get me wrong, I like the said beer's, but I'm sure it's nothing like dining in Germany and having a 'real' beer with dinner.

At least some places are making an attempt at delivering good beer. Has anyone in the Boston area been to the Publik House on Beacon Street? 120+ beers on tap, great food... this is what we need more of.
 
Has anyone in the Boston area been to the Publik House on Beacon Street? 120+ beers on tap, great food... this is what we need more of.

Or even The Flying Saucer in downtown Houston. They serve a number of beers from around the world.

My brother currently works for AB up north. I like to give him a hard time for their 40oz. product "promoting and assisting in the downfall of urban environments".

As for the company itself, I compare it to the likes of Starbucks ($h!tsux, i call it). Starbucks has a great portion of the American populace swearing that a cup of coffee-flavored sugar water with whipped cream and chocolate and/or caramel drizzled (yes, drizzled) on top is how coffee is meant to be. These, in my opinion, are the same people that would go to Italy on vacation, try the coffee there and decide immediately that the cafe did something wrong. It's not the coffee, it's our perception. Same with BMC. It's not the beer, it's the perception. Those that have been "enlightened" can look back and say "I can't believe I used to drink that".

I think as a goal of home/craft brewers, we should work towards "enlightening" others so that they might see what they are missing out on. If enough of the populace's perception changes in favor of "real" beer, then corporations like AB would, more or less, be forced to adjust their business model.
 
I lived in Germany for 9 years and have visted almost all the countries over there...and learned along the way what REAL beer is supposed to taste like.

The Budweiser recipe came from Ceske Budejovice (Budweis in German) and tastes nothing like the American version.

I would like to think that when it first came over it was exactly like it...something along the lines of ordering steak and getting a burger...:confused:..makes me wish the original Augie came back to life to kick Jr's butt for making crap...

As a corporation they are #1 at separating the consumer from their money...

As a homebrewer whenever I hear "The King of Beers" I think Gambrinus!!:rockin:
 
Personally I find it ridiculous that BMC tries to pawn off their products as "beer" while denying the existence of the authentic stuff: Natural Ice.
 
Personally I find it ridiculous that BMC tries to pawn off their products as "beer" while denying the existence of the authentic stuff: Natural Ice.

Not to change the course of the thread, but this beg's the question...


What (in your opinion) is the best of the worst?
 
Of the "college grade" beers, I'd give Busch Light top honors.

Milwaukee's Best Ice manages to distinguish itself from the class by being head-and-shoulders worse than anything else.
 
Didn't the "American Lite" style of beer come from the prohibition? Many, many breweries went out of business. Some managed to stick around and when prohibition ended, started pumping out the cheapest, thinnest stuff they could make. People were eager just to have a beer again, and the breweries' soon owned the whole kit and kaboodle (because of the mistake which prohibited homebrew, and made it difficult for people to startup a new brewery.)

Soon, the American public got used to thin, cheap beer, and that's what became the standard. There are a lot of people who are afraid to try a darker heavier beer, or who try it, but don't give it a chance. (Most of us were averse to drinking ANY kind of beer when we first started. Even that BMC stuff was strong-tasting).

If people would choke down an IPA or two, just to give them perspective, then maybe more would start to enjoy some of the other styles that are out there.
 
Didn't the "American Lite" style of beer come from the prohibition? Many, many breweries went out of business. Some managed to stick around and when prohibition ended, started pumping out the cheapest, thinnest stuff they could make. People were eager just to have a beer again, and the breweries' soon owned the whole kit and kaboodle (because of the mistake which prohibited homebrew, and made it difficult for people to startup a new brewery.)

Soon, the American public got used to thin, cheap beer, and that's what became the standard....

Hate to burst your bubble...but that's an urban legend that all of us beer snobs have been pretty happy to keep spreading, I was guilty of believing the same thing...but it ain't the truth...

Myth: After World War II, brewers lowered production costs by adding corn and rice to their beer.

Reality: German-American brewers began adding corn and rice to their beer in the early 1870s, and did so not to lower their production costs (in 1878, a bottle of Budweiser cost the equivalent of $17 in today’s money!) but in order to accommodate Americans’ demand for a light-bodied beer.

As much as I hate to admit it...Americans just weren't drinking that much American Ales before the germans came. That's why I've had f*&@-all luck trying to find a late 1800's ale recipe.

ambitious brew said:
In the early nineteenth century, Americans didn't drink beer - they drank whiskey instead, more than seven gallons per adult a year. There were 14,000 commercial distilleries in the United States but only about two hundred small breweries.

It wasn't until the German introduced thinner beers that Americans began to drink it.

Listen to this from Basic Brewing;

November 30, 2006 - Ambitious Brew Part One
We learn about the history of beer in the USA from Maureen Ogle, author of "Ambitious Brew - The Story of American Beer." Part one takes us from the Pilgrims to Prohibition.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr11-30-06.mp3

December 7, 2006 - Ambitious Brew Part Two
We continue our discussion about the history of beer in the USA with Maureen Ogle, author of "Ambitious Brew - The Story of American Beer." Part two takes us from Prohibition to the present day.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr12-07-06.mp3


You might want to take a look at her book.

5194HaN2BoL.jpg


Her website and beer blog are great reads.
http://www.ambitiousbrew.com/index2.htm

She's been covering the AH/Inbev thing from a historian's perspective on her blog http://maureenogle.com/blog/

By the way...this one Po'ed me even more...:D

In recent years, beer drinkers have worn t-shirts decorated with a quote attributed to Ben Franklin: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Just one problem: Franklin didn't say that. It's a mangled version of another Franklin quote about the pleasures of wine. In a 1779 letter, he wrote that the rain that fell on vineyards and transformed vines into grapes for wine provided "a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy."
 
:off:

So a blond walks into a bar and asks for a beer. The bartender askes "Anheuser Busch?" The blond replys "Fine, and hows your dick?"

:D
 
So the presidents of Bud, Miller, Coors and Paulaner are having lunch together.

The waitress asks what they wanted to drink.

The prez of AB says "the King of Beers for sure!"

The prez of Miller says "an MGD!"

The prez of Coors says "the one and only Silver Bullet".

The prez from Paulaner says "just a glass or water, please".

The others presidents said "what your brew's not good enough to eat with a meal?"

the prez of Paulaner says "No, it's not that...I just figured you guys weren't drinking beer so neither should I!!" :D:rockin::mug::mug:
 
So the presidents of Bud, Miller, Coors and Paulaner are having lunch together.

The waitress asks what they wanted to drink.

The prez of AB says "the King of Beers for sure!"

The prez of Miller says "an MGD!"

The prez of Coors says "the one and only Silver Bullet".

The prez from Paulaner says "just a glass or water, please".

The others presidents said "what your brew's not good enough to eat with a meal?"

the prez of Paulaner says "No, it's not that...I just figured you guys weren't drinking beer so neither should I!!" :D:rockin::mug::mug:

I posted it last week, only in my version with the Arthur Guiness, not the president of Pauliner.
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the amount of Americans who don't like beer at all because they think that BMC IS beer. I know many people like this. I'm not saying whether or not it was intentional, but to the average American, BMC has reduced the definition of beer to their beers... and if someone who doesn't know beer drinks a BMC product and doesn't like it, they think they don't like beer at all. That, my friends, is a crying shame!
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the amount of Americans who don't like beer at all because they think that BMC IS beer. I know many people like this. I'm not saying whether or not it was intentional, but to the average American, BMC has reduced the definition of beer to their beers... and if someone who doesn't know beer drinks a BMC product and doesn't like it, they think they don't like beer at all. That, my friends, is a crying shame!

+1 on that. I know a bunch of people who don't drink beer because the only beer they know is BMC or one of the many other sub-par beers. I usually try to get theses people to try my brews and the response is overwhelmingly in favor of my stuff. It's a shame that so many have made their drinking choices based on the actions of a few misguided brewers.
 
I'm just happy that ButWiper is starting to bottle in 7 oz bottles. I hate that I have to drink them, but the bottles are absolutely the perfect fit for SWMBO. I try and do a 6 pack of 7 oz bottles from every batch for her.
 
Funny, I know some people who have only had Heiniken all their lives. Every time I go to the store I look for something I haven't tried yet. For example every so often I pick up a six pack of Hoeegarden, but I also like Natural Lite because it is lite. But to me it all depends on your mood, the conditions, etc. and your capacity for alcohol before getting drunk. I don't like to get too drunk (like when I was in my 20's) so if I want to stay up all night listening to music I'd go with the NL. If after a long day at work I just want to relax and go to bed I may pick the Hoeegarden. Two totally differnet tastes but I enjoy both. There is also the $$ perspective for some people.
 
Good chance inBev is going to buy out Bud. I guess Anheuser's market share is starting to shrink as more people are drinking micro, imports and wine. InBev (formerly known as interbrew) makes a good portion of the imports and wth it's 20% market share makes more money than Anheuser with it's 50% market share.

It will probably be a good thing. While inBev mainstreamed slightly some of the imports over the years, they will likely release a number of Euorpean style beers thorugh the Anheuser breweries if this take over goes through.

I just hope their combined marleting power doesn't start to hit the micros in the pocket. Inbev's contract to brew/market Bud in Canada in 98 turned bud from last to first place in number of beers sold in Canada.
 
I do not have a problem with A-B and the other majors' products. They make those beers, and if folks want to drink them, more power to everyone involved.

My problem with the majors, and especially with A-B, is the way they run their businesses. First of all, their marketing is despicable. It's two-faced. They tell you about how difficult it is to brew something like a Budweiser and strongly imply that darker beer is flawed. Then, they turn around and market dark beers under a different label. That's just one example. Yes, of course they want to make money and sell beer, but now that is little more than rationalization for selling their collective soul. It's not much better than some shyster on a street corner or informercial.

More than that, though, I detest their eliminate competition. They (and I mean all the majors) have tried to work like some sort of cabal to eliminate any other players. They lobby like hell to keep certain laws in place and to change others to that purpose. A-B successfully did everything they could to keep brewpubs out of Texas until they wanted to open one at Sea World in San Antonio. Even then, they monkeyed the law so that A-B could be the only fairly large brewery who could own a brewpub. Again, that is just one example.

I know they have a right to do it (in most cases - see the link regarding the antitrust case, above). Yes, they have muscle, and they use it to their advantage. I'm not talking about what is legal, though. I am talking about what is right. A-B and the other majors are not just trying to beat the competition, they are trying to eliminate competition, and they try to do so in a number of underhanded, despicable ways. They lack integrity.


TL
 
I do not have a problem with A-B and the other majors' products. They make those beers, and if folks want to drink them, more power to everyone involved.

My problem with the majors, and especially with A-B, is the way they run their businesses. First of all, their marketing is despicable. It's two-faced. They tell you about how difficult it is to brew something like a Budweiser and strongly imply that darker beer is flawed. Then, they turn around and market dark beers under a different label. That's just one example. Yes, of course they want to make money and sell beer, but now that is little more than rationalization for selling their collective soul. It's not much better than some shyster on a street corner or informercial.

More than that, though, I detest their eliminate competition. They (and I mean all the majors) have tried to work like some sort of cabal to eliminate any other players. They lobby like hell to keep certain laws in place and to change others to that purpose. A-B successfully did everything they could to keep brewpubs out of Texas until they wanted to open one at Sea World in San Antonio. Even then, they monkeyed the law so that A-B could be the only fairly large brewery who could own a brewpub. Again, that is just one example.

I know they have a right to do it (in most cases - see the link regarding the antitrust case, above). Yes, they have muscle, and they use it to their advantage. I'm not talking about what is legal, though. I am talking about what is right. A-B and the other majors are not just trying to beat the competition, they are trying to eliminate competition, and they try to do so in a number of underhanded, despicable ways. They lack integrity.


TL

That about sums it up. The Youtube video on the Alabama situation is correct. The A-B guys are doing everything they can to keep the state laws from changing.
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the amount of Americans who don't like beer at all because they think that BMC IS beer. I know many people like this. I'm not saying whether or not it was intentional, but to the average American, BMC has reduced the definition of beer to their beers... and if someone who doesn't know beer drinks a BMC product and doesn't like it, they think they don't like beer at all. That, my friends, is a crying shame!

This was me to a T! I hated beer cause I assumed all beer tasted like BMC. Then someone introduced me to Killian's (I know it's made by Coors) and I thought, "well, if beer is the only thing being served than this will have to do. " Then it progressed to Sam Adams and then I found out that there is a store that sells all types of beer that I had never heard of.

Now I brew my own and like beer more than I like mixed drinks. There are many people that know me who can't believe this change has come over me. I have probably had 3 liquor drinks since Xmas.

:tank:
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the amount of Americans who don't like beer at all because they think that BMC IS beer. I know many people like this. I'm not saying whether or not it was intentional, but to the average American, BMC has reduced the definition of beer to their beers... and if someone who doesn't know beer drinks a BMC product and doesn't like it, they think they don't like beer at all. That, my friends, is a crying shame!

Nail, head, hit.....An excellent post!
 
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