Goodbye, Michelob Original Lager.

Thanks for confirming and noting here. I do have a follow up question.

If the first two digits are the year and last three the Julian date for Michelob packaging, wouldn’t 21281 represent the 281st day of 2021, or October 8?

 

So, some products have packaged-on, and others have best-by. Very consistent.

 

You are correct, I have managed to mix that number up throughout this discussion. The correct number is 21281, so October 8, 2021 is correct. I have in error said 21218 which is Aug 6, 2021 and that's the number I gave the A-B rep

 

It gets better, the best by term is different by product.

 

Did you happen to ask about the rumored discontinuation of Michelob Original?

 

I didn't, I thought the consensus was the news of the demise was premature.
I'll go back and ask, it wasn't a big deal to go through the chat.

 

The answer straight from Bud's mouth "We are not discontinuing our original Michelob lager, nor are we changing the recipe."

 

I have a few minutes before work, so I jumped on the Bud chat and texted back and forth with Molly. She gave credit to COVID-19 and my local wholesale as to why M Original Lager is not on the shelves in western Michigan.
I asked the big question- is M Original Lager on the sku chopping block? She said no it is not! Emphasis included.
So, there is that. I need to go to Ohio to pick it up. @nicholas2121

 

Solid confirmation from the main source.

At least until the next panic.

 

"..... but ya' doesn't hasta' call me Johnson." Haven't seen that character in years.

 

This was the last time I saw a reference:

"Johnson got another one."

 

Michelob is my favorite AAL, as it is the only adjunct free option available and at a half decent price.
It will be a sad day if it gets discontinued, but oh well, life happens.

 

AAL - American Adjunct Lager

 

Please see above: not happening anytime soon, confirmed in 2 separate cases by brewery reps that this isn't happening anytime soon.

Breathe easy Michelob lovers.

 

Ohhh... I wouldn't be too sure about that. As noted above:

... these days it fallen way below 1M bbl/yr (said by some to be AB's target for their major brands) and it is Michelob Ultra, in the Top 5 US beers, that's essentially the flagship of the "Michelob" brand, and is snapping at the heels of the ever-decreasing Budweiser barrelage. Some stats put it ahead of Miller Lite, too.

OTOH, last I read, almost a decade ago, Michelob Lager was down to well under 500k bbl/yr. Wouldn't be surprised if eventually "Michelob" means "Michelob Ultra" to most people, just as "Yuengling" mean "Yuengling Traditional Lager".

If the Buschs (family not the brand) were still around I could see them always keeping it for tradition/nostalgia sake, but these new guys...

 

Sure, there are always retail & marketing caveats when dealing with big business (I even alluded to it above myself), but let's not try to foment unfounded rumor in this day and age (or has that become the new national pastime? ).

After all, even with all the past stats you quote, Mich is still on shelves.

 

Oh, yeah. Every time this thread is revived, I think to myself, "Oh, no - not again. The Mods really should change the subject line of this thread."

Well, if it's not allowed, then, um... "Say goodbye to Wall Street and dozens of industry publications and websites..".

Well, yeah on "some" shelves in "some" (likely "many"?) AB distributors' regions.

 

As often as I point an accusative finger at distros, I have to wonder about AB distros since they're so tied in to the brewery (or is that not true nationwide?).

Gotta wonder why there isn't a reserved spot for Much. But maybe it has to do with that Ultra question?

 

Well, I don't think it's the same relationship for many AB houses as it was back in the 90s and earlier, when an AB wholesale contract was a license to print money and AB was approaching 50% of the market.

Back before A. Busch III's controversial "100% Share of Mind" program, the Maris-owned distributor lawsuit and then the InBev take-over (including an agreement with the Feds to limit company-owned branches to "only" 10% of their US business), and a whole lot of failed new products in the past couple of decades.

But, OTOH, they're the only brewery that has a separate website just for the distributors.
https://www.abwholesaler.com/common/wholesaler-locator/

 

FWIW -- just saw Mich at a local independent grocer: $10.69 a 12-pack.

No, didn't take the time to inspect for freshness, was only investigating availability.