Budweiser 1933 Prohibition Repeal

They just arrived and I mean just. The Bud rep was stocking shelves when I walked in the store and I got the first six pack. Had to tell them the price at checkout because it wasn't in the system yet. $7.99 seems a bit high, we'll see if it's worth it.

 

Maybe instead of calling it bad, we'll say "beer that is designed to be less flavorful and brewed with cheaper ingredients."

 

Beer that is designed to be less flavorful is spot on.

Brewed with cheaper ingredients isn't necessarily accurate. Using Bud as an example, since they are so often accused of using cheaper ingredients, they have used rice for years (a grain that some craft brewers use as well) based on the flavor effects, etc. But the rice they use in the US is grown in the US, mostly by farmers who have contracted with Bud as to which rice and the quality of the grain. It is not unusual for them to pay higher prices for that rice than they would have paid for Barley.

 

Have they adopted ANY strategy to compete with good beer? If you're referring to their "brewed the hard way" campaign (or any initiative aimed at outselling craft beer), then you'd have to categorize Blue Moon and all of craft beer as "good beer." I certainly wouldn't do that.

Naw. Someone could even claim that the best Helles was designed to be less flavorful and brewed with cheaper ingredients than the worst bourbon barrel aged coconut blueberry stout. Between those two, I know what I'd rather drink... and I wouldn't use negatively loaded wording to describe that choice.

 

The reworded pledge on the label got a chuckle from me.

 

Do we really need to get into dorm room bong talk about objectivity before we can decide if it’s ok to say beers that taste like stale dishwater are not good?

Also, I get that people like them, and I find that completely irrelevant to a discussion of quality. People like crap. I like crap. I enjoy the cheapest ramen you can buy, but I’m not going to say it isn’t crap food.

 

Well if they taste like stale dishwater to you that's your personal reaction since, as you say, millions of people prefer them and do not think that is what they taste like. (Nor have I ever personally had one that tasted like stale dishwater.)

Relatively flavorless they may be but that does not make them not good for all, only for you.

 

You don't think that the people drinking "crap" beers reckon that they are quality beers? I drink some occasionally and, for the most part, they don't come across as flawed.

 

There is not much worse for you than cheap ramen.

 

I finally saw it nearby but passed as it was $10 a 6pk.

 

I’m sure people do like them. I’ve enjoyed them at times. They’re still crap.

 

Similar price that I saw Batch 19 go for and that's what probably did it in.

 

It’s just cardboard and salt, how bad could it be?

 

In in NYC so there's some reason for higher prices but it can fluctuate depending on the store. Probably decent prices at the beer distributer. I don't know what regular Bud goes for these days but I'd imagine this should cost the same or a touch more?

 

A bit more is reasonable imho.

 

Yes.

 

F budweiser.

 

I'll give an example that's concrete since people like that. Mitch Steele worked for Anheuser-Busch for 14 years doing things like new beer development. After that he moved over to Stone and developed Enjoy By... which you rated a "4.46" here... so don't take my word for it.

When companies like Sierra Nevada and Deschutes hire key people from Anheuser-Busch, you can safely say that they must feel like they are investing in talent and skill. They could pull talent from a "craft" brewery instead if they wanted to.

 

This is now an old story- and I know it to be true. I have heard Belgian brewers openly admire Bud's consistency and quality. I like great brewing and I also like the vagaries of not making the the same beer perfectly every day.

 

They choose to hit their target market, but they have the resources, and the skilled Brewers. Ya know that a simple Bud is quite the beer, it's the same now as it was 20 years ago, maybe 30, maybe 50. It's not so simple a task to be so consistent. That's tough, that takes skill. Yep , it's an AAL, but it's not swill, hell its better than a good bit of craft offerings. I prefer others, but it's a good beer within the style.